I promised myself if I ever shared recipes on my blog, that I wouldn’t make you read an essay or two before getting to the recipe, so all I will say is this:
After weeks of experiencing my first ever colitis flare-up, I have learned that I need to make food decisions focused on gut health, and honor food as medicine. Because my neurodivergence complicates my relationship to food, I’ve spent some of my couchbound time learning about gut health, anti-inflammatory foods, & writing lists of what I’ll do in the kitchen the next time I am able to stand up for a length of time.
And then when I was finally able to stand up, I did what I remember my Gramma doing - I pulled out my soup pot.
I am terribly afraid of food now. This veggie bean soup was the first meal I'd eaten in weeks that soothed me. A few tears of gratitude joined my hands in prayer afterwards. I guess surrender and soup are how I'll get through.
E’s Veggie Bean Soup:
Ingredients:
2 tbsp avocado oil
5 celery stalks
5 carrots
2 cups cubed potatoes
2 small white onions
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp garlic
2 tsp basil
1 tbsp thyme
8 cups beef broth
1 can (540 ml) white kidney (cannellini) beans
1 can (540 ml) black beans
1 can (540 ml) tomatoes
35 ml apple cider vinegar
35 ml red wine vinegar
worcestershire sauce to taste
black pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
2 cups fresh cremini mushrooms
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
Yield:
4.5 litres of soup
(I had a couple of bowls after making, and then canned 4 L into 8 x 500ml jars)
Materials: Knives to chop veggies
Cutting mat
Big ol’ soup pot, preferably one that stirs up loving memories of your ancestors
Wooden spoon for stirring because no one likes that metal on metal sound
Ladle
If canning afterwards, you’ll need all necessary canning equipment:
Canning Pot
Jars, lids
Funnel
Fun canning accessories that help to retrieve hot jars & lids out of the canner pot
A can-do attitude
Steps:
On medium high heat, start by pouring in the avocado oil. Once the oil has warmed, toss thinly sliced celery, onion, carrots & cubed potatoes into your soup pot.
Once vegetables have softened a bit, sprinkle in ginger, garlic, basil & thyme. Stir and let veggies cook for a couple more minutes. While you wait, engage in either a kitchen dance party or kitchen concert with your favorite tune.
Once the dance party/concert is over, pour in beef broth.
Rinse your kidney & black beans before tossing them into the pot. With delight, exclaim, “everyone in the pool!” as your beans join the soup.
Tomatoes, next! Add the entire contents. Give it all a good stir.
Pour in your vinegars, and season with Worcestershire to your liking.
Sprinkle in black pepper & cayenne pepper to taste. Once the broth is seasoned to your contentment, add 2 bay leaves, mushrooms, & spinach. Let soup come to a boil, and then simmer for 7 minutes or so, just enough time for all the veggies to soften.
Once veggies are softened and the soup liquid has cooled a bit, blend until soup is a consistent texture. For this, I used my mom’s old Braun handheld blender. Please use whatever blender gives you the most joy.
If canning soup, this would be a great time to sanitize your jars. Keep the soup simmering until jars are ready.
While dipping your ladle into soup to transfer to either jars or a bowl, whisper-sing under your breath, “when I dip, you dip, we dip”.
Enjoy this veggie bean soup knowing you are feeding your body essential ingredients for gut health!
Soup and surrender, friends,
Blessings,
E
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