Hearty Bean-Soup
Beans’ mild flavor makes them a great backdrop for a wide range of additions. Our master bean-soup recipe includes Italian, Mexican, and chunky vegetable variations, or you could just spoon up the good old-fashioned version. 1. Choose navy, great Northern, black, pinto, or white beans. They'll all work in our master recipe, though the cooking time may vary.
2. Cook beans at the barest simmer because boiling will break the skins and disintegrate the insides into the cooking water.
3. Add salt and tomato paste halfway through the cooking, or even later as salt and acid toughen the skins, which can making cooking time much longer.
4. Puree beans with an immersion blender or potato masher, or remove half of them and puree in a processor or blender. All work well. To Save Time Shop at a busy store with fast turnover. Old beans take longer to cook.
To quick-soak, bring them to a boil, simmer 5 minutes, cover, and let stand for an hour. An even quicker way is to boil them 5 minutes to soften.
Use lentils. Sauté vegetables before adding unsoaked lentils, use 5 c broth, and simmer about 40 minutes.
Even faster, use canned beans. Sauté vegetables before adding four 15 oz canned beans, drained; 4 c broth and remaining ingredients (except water). Simmer 20 minutes. Variations Italian: Stir 3 Tbsp pesto and 1 c cooked pasta into the finished soup. Mexican: Use black beans and add 1/2 tsp red-pepper flakes and 2 tsp cumin with tomato paste. Get Chunky: Add a carrot, a diced potato and a head of shredded savoy cabbage to the vegetables. Hearty Bean-Soup
Total Time: 2 Hours + Soaking Time Bean-Soup Servings: 8 Ingredients;
1 lb dried navy beans, rinsed* 6 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth 4 c. water 1 med onion, finely chopped 2 ribs celery, chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 bay leaf 3 Tbs. tomato paste 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley + more for optional garnish Preparation;
1. Soak beans overnight in water that covers them by about 2 inches.
2. Place drained beans in large pot with broth, water, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, partially covered, until beans are almost tender, about 1 hour.
3. Stir tomato paste and salt into bean mixture. Return to a simmer and continue cooking, partially covered, until beans are cooked through, 30 to 45 minutes longer.
4. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Puree about half the bean mixture, using an immersion blender, regular blender, food processor, or potato masher. Stir pepper and parsley into soup and bring back to a simmer. Season to taste with additional sea salt and ground pepper. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Nutritional Info; Per Serving 213 cal, 14 g pro, 39 g carb, 15 g fiber, 1 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 0 mg chol, 919 mg sodium
NOTE * The cooking time for this hearty, bean-soup recipe, is based on navy beans. If you choose another type, the cooking time may be longer or shorter. Follow package instructions or test by breaking a bean in half. No matter the type, they're done when the chalky center disappears. Soup's on! 
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