Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Sweet Potato Bean Soup

I am sorry I haven't written more this month. I have been doing a lot of research on GMO's and, as a result, adding more organic foods into our diet. Naturally those organic ingredients tend to cost more, so I was brainstorming a hearty, budget-friendly meal this week. We received sweet potatoes from our co-op last week (♥ Nature's Garden Delivered), which I decided to puree for a pizza crust, but I had ½ cup left over. It added a nice sweetness to this bean soup. 


dried Navy beans (soaked overnight)
4 or more slices bacon (fried crisp and chopped)
½ cup or more sweet potato puree
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp basil
2 tsp dried shallots
2 tsp dried onions (use fresh if you have it on hand)
¼ tsp pepper
1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
½ tsp salt (or to taste)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ dozen of so roasted cherry tomatoes (I roasted mine in the toaster oven until soft, cut them and scraped the flesh out of the skins with a spoon)


Rinse the soaked beans well and pour them in a pot with plenty of filtered water.
Add sweet potato puree, herbs, onions, pepper, and tomatoes (reserve salt and vinegar until after the soup has simmered and beans are tender). Cover the pot, bring to a boil and reduce heat. Let the soup simmer until the beans are tender, then add salt and balsamic vinegar. Serve with focaccia bread.

2 comments:

Galispa said...

I've been looking at your recipes. They look great. I notice you use dried shallots and dried onions for flavoring. Where do you buy these?

Heidi a/k/a Thistle said...

Hey, Gail. I have been looking for a bulk source for organic, and also have a dehydrator so I may start making my own (since organic can be hard to find). On the shallots I think I found these at World Market (but these are not organic).