On Sunday, August 2, 2015 at 11:39:19 PM UTC-4, Julie Bove wrote:
> I just made some really good bean soup but I am eating it warm and not hot
> because it is still stinking hot in here. Temp. is supposed to drop about
> 10 degrees tomorrow but that is still about 10 degrees hotter than normal.
>
> I had some tomatoes that I needed to use up. Bought to eat them raw but
> just haven't felt like eating much of anything. Even having trouble eating
> this soup despite it being so good! I didn't really measure anything but I
> put in about 5 medium sized tomatoes, chopped, seeds, juice and all, three
> cans of beans (dark red kidney, white, small red), 1 large white onion,
> chopped, couple of handful of carrot chips, broken into smaller pieces
> (these are just raw carrots cut on an angle and with ripples), 2 ribs of
> celery, diced, 1 green bell pepper, chopped and some dried bell pepper in
> assorted colors. Also two small boxes of vegetable broth and a small can of
> tomato sauce. Seasonings were just black pepper, parsley and cumin. Didn't
> have to add any bacon or other fat or any lemon or lime juice. Just
> perfect!

Sounds good. I did my usual vegetable soup in my air-conditioned
kitchen (90 F outdoors; 70 F indoors):

Sautee celery, onion, and garlic in olive oil. Add a can of great
northern beans (including liquid), a 14-oz can of diced tomatoes, a
32-oz box of chicken broth and a bay leaf. Simmer that for 20 minutes,
then add about half a pound of frozen green beans and a quarter pound frozen
mixed vegetables. Bring it back to boil, let it simmer for
10 minutes, until beans are very crisp. Take it off the heat.
Add a double handful of frozen cauliflower (chopped)
and a bunch of minced parsley. The vegetables will continue
to cook as the soup cools. The first bowl is a little crunchy,
but reheated for workday lunches it's nearly perfect.

Quite often when I reheat it, I vary the flavor by adding any
(but not all) of basil, cumin, lemon juice, sherry vinegar,
sliced kielbasa, cooked bacon or anything else in the fridge
that looks good.

Cindy Hamilton