Thursday, November 3, 2011

Wendesday Night Dinner...

 ...the weather is getting chilly and time is perfect for comfort food.  Such perfect weather for hearty, filling soup with warm delicious homemade bread. Is that the give away for what we ate?  Yup, delicious yummy vegetable bean soup with meatballs, severed along side homemade bread.  It sounds a lot more elaborate than it is. The only only thing it needs is plenty of preparation time.  The beans need to be soaked,  and the dough for the "no knead" has to be started the night before.  But that is all - after that it's a breeze.  Really!

Oh, look at the result of the "no knead" bread.  And yes,  it is just as yummy as it looks and only has four ingredients.  Flour, yeast, salt, and water.

"No knead" bread
The soup was just as easy - and it was a huge dinner success in our little house in Southeast Portland

To recreate it you need:

  • one cup of soaked, dried beans  (I use a 12 dried bean mix from New Season's Market)
  • splash of Olive Oil
  • medium onion diced
  • 2-3 carrots diced
  • large can of diced tomatoes
  • 32 oz of chicken or veggie broth (I use Pacific Foods)
  • one small yam cut into cubes
  • two medium potatoes cut into cubes
  • a couple of bay leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pound of bulk italian sausage (I use mild)
To prepare:
  • soak the beans the night before you plan to make the soup
  • in a large pot heat up the olive oil.  When hot, add the onion, and carrots as well as a sprinkling of salt.  Sautee until onions are soft, and carrots begin to show yellow center.
  • add can of diced tomatoes, and the vegetable broth
  • next add the soaked beans (drained - do not add the soaking liquid)
  • then add 
    • Yam,
    • Potatoes, and
    • Bay Leaf
  • Bring soup to a slow simmer and cover.
     While soup is simmering
    • form small meatballs from the bulk sausage, and
    • carefully fry them until browned in a pan
  •      Let soup simmer for about an hour - while "no knead" bread is baking in the oven.  
    •     Add salt and pepper to taste
The soup is done once all veggies, and beans are soft.  Add meatballs to the soup right before serving and enjoy!  Please let me know if you try it out, and if so how you liked it :)
Twelve bean, veggie soup with Italian Meatballs

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