Thursday, October 22, 2009

Fall Pinto Bean & Yam Soup

Hello! We are all still too busy to blog, apparently. I have big plans for the weekend that include posting some photographs of what we have been up to the last two months....

Ari is 8 weeks old today.

Sigh.

In the meantime, here's a recipe for a fabulous fall soup we tried recently--we loved it and I know you will too. This recipe comes from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook written by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre--our local co-op's resident nutritionists.

FALL PINTO BEAN & YAM SOUP
2 cups dry pinto beans, soaked overnight
6 cups water
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1-2 inch piece kombu seaweed
(my beans had bugs in them...ugh...I substituted with two cans of pinto beans from my pantry!)
2T extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 small yams, peeled and diced
3 carrots, cut into rounds
1T ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
8 cups water
28 oz diced fire-roasted tomatoes
2-3 ears of corn, corn cut off cob (I used a 16oz package of frozen corn)
1 small bunch black kale, finely chopped (I used collards--store was out of kale)
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced
sea salt or Herbamare, to taste
Rinse and drain soaked beans, place into a 6 quart pot with the water, garlic and kombu, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 1 hour, or until beans are soft and mash easily. Remove pot from heat. Drain beans and reserve the cooking water.
To make the soup, heat olive oil in a large 8 quart pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and saute for about 5 mins. Then add the garlic, jalapeno peppers, yams, carrots, cumin, paprika, and chipotle chili powder. Saute and stir for another 5 minutes then add water. Mix well to remove any spices that have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Then add the cooked and drained beans, tomatoes, cut corn, and chopped kale, mix well. If the soup needs more liquid then add some of the reserved bean cooking liquid.
Cover pot and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Add chopped cilantro, lime juice, and sea salt or Herbamare to taste.
Let me know if you try it!

4 comments:

The McGarrys said...

Oh my word!!! I ordered this cook book a month ago and have L-O-V-E-D it!!! I've probably made ten recipes already, with more to come! (But not this one... yet!)

I'd seen that they lived by you guys and I am jealous - I'd love to take some of their classes. I love their recipes... they are perfect for our family - gluten free for Alek, whole food for all of us and less meat (for our pocket book).

So happy that you enjoy their recipes as well!!!

Now we REALLY need to hang out. Love you,

Chels

karissa said...

And what distinguishes 'chipotle chili powder'? Haven't heard of that. Just bought 25 pounds of dry pinto beans, this soup should be my first attempt at using them...after the 10 beanbags I sewed up with them :-)

our little acorns said...

I think chipotle chili powder is probably just a specialty at the co-op stores. I just used regular chili powder!

Vicky Philips said...

Hi Kim---

I made this soup tonight! Love it! Very tasty and I love all the vegetables. It made ALOT and I just used regular chili powder too (couldn't fine chipotle!)

Thank you for being an inspiration to me!

Love you!
Aunt Vicky