17 Bean Soup

By Tuesday evening we all had enough turkey so it was time for something different. The architect made a 17 Bean Soup…it was only after it was served that she told us that the base stock was turkey! Alas, the turkeyfest continues! Despite the revelation, the soup was delicious. She used a soup-starter package from Trader Joes and added plenty of her own goodies like tomatoes, onions, carrots, and herbs…she served it topped with grated cheese. Foodie brought a Ceasar Salad in the beautiful traveling salad bowl and I made an orange pound cake…I will write something about the pound cake in a future post…it was good but a bit too fluffy for pound cake.

Trader Joe's 17 Bean & Barley Recipe

Ingredients (from the back of the package)
1 1/2 cups of T.J. 17 Bean and Barley Soup Mix
1 cup of chopped sweet bell peppers
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. Dried Basil
1 can Marinara Sauce or 28 oz. Canned Tomatoes
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1 garlic clove or 1 tsp. T.J. Crushed Garlic (roasted garlic would be lovely)

Soak Bean & Barley combination overnight. In a heavy bottom pan cook (BTW…see that pot – I want one!) until soft - in broth, water, wine or combination - onion, celery, carrot and peppers. Add Basil and Garlic. Add to all remaining ingredients. Add additional water, broth or other liquids as needed for your desired consistency.

Simmer covered about 1 hour or longer depending on desired texture, upwards of 90-120minutes, check for bean doneness by tasting or squeezing a large bean.

As I said, the soup was delicious...very grateful I did not have any meetings scheduled the next day.