Easy Creamy Tomato Bean Soup for a Cold Windy Minnesota Day

 An easy creamy soup that satisfies and tastes good!

Normally, I add a little ‘pepper’ in my bean soups, but decided to leave this one mild. I didn’t want to over power the other flavors.

The Pacific Foods Tomato Soup is very good, but is really high in sodium.  Bean soup sounded really good, but I just hate spending lots of time making meals.  Most of the time, I walk to the pantry, look in to see what can be used to make a quick meal.  The soup was about to go past it’s shelf date, so I decided it was time to use it.

There also was this large can of Kidney beans that I had bought for a family get-together. And I just love those canned diced tomatoes!

 Normally, I make bean soup with the beans whole, but since the tomato soup was cream, the beans needed to be creamed.

Easy Creamy Tomato Bean Soup




Ingredients

1 27-oz. can dark red kidney beans rinsed and drained well
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2  4-oz. can  chopped green chilies
2 tbsp ginger (squeeze tube)
1 tbsp ginger, powdered
1 tbsp onions, dehydrated, chopped
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic infused olive oil (or 1 clove garlic, finely diced, plus oil)
1  32-oz. box tomato soup (Pacific Foods)
optional, 1 tsp sugar

Procedures


1. Place beans and all spices into a food processor and pulse until smooth and beans do not have any skins showing.



2. Drain juice from  tomatoes into the crock pot.  Add the tomatoes and chilies to the food processor and pulse to mix.








3. Add the Food processor mix to the crock pot.  Add the tomato soup to the crock pot.  Stir to mix. Stir in the oil



4. Set the crock pot to low for about 2 hours. Stir minimally every half hour.



5. Serve hot.





Small appliances needed

• 3-5 quart crock pot
• food processor

Makes 6 to 8 servings
Nutrition (per serving  - 8): 149 calories, 2.4g total fat, <1g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, <1g saturated fat, 5mg cholesterol, 25.1g carbohydrates, 6.2g fiber, 18.9g net carbohydrates, 8.8g sugar, 1.3g starch, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g sucrose, 0g maltose, 568.6mg sodium, 334.3mg potassium, 7.7g protein, 100.8mg calcium, 403.4IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, 0mcg vitamin b12, 10.2mg vitamin c, <1mg vitamin e, 3.6mcg vitamin k, 1.8mg iron, <1g lysine, 0mcg lycopene, 2.1mg phytosterols, <1mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 1.3mg zinc.

Nutrition (per serving  - 6):  199 calories, 3.2g total fat, <1g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 1.1g saturated fat, 6.7mg cholesterol, 33.4g carbohydrates, 8.3g fiber, 25.2g net carbohydrates, 11.7g sugar, 1.7g starch, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g sucrose, 0g maltose, 758.1mg sodium, 445.8mg potassium, 10.2g protein, 134.3mg calcium, 537.8IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, 0mcg vitamin b12, 13.6mg vitamin c, <1mg vitamin e, 4.8mcg vitamin k, 2.4mg iron, <1g lysine, 0mcg lycopene, 2.8mg phytosterols, <1mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 1.7mg zinc.

The soup is very good.  Feel free to use any other kind of beans.  Type of beans determines the amount of added seasoning. Black and red kidney beans require about the same amount of seasoning.
© 2012 retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com

Easy Meals - Spicy Pinto Bean, Corn and Ham Soup

Crock Pots, slow cookers and even cast iron Dutch ovens work for making soups or stews.
When I was growing up, we just had a big old enameled pot that held lots of soup, beans or even ‘macaroni’.  We had macaroni noodles with tomatoes and sometimes beef stew meat.  That was one dish, I really liked then.  I will probably never make it now.  I remember when one of my sisters couldn’t say ‘macaroni’ and would call it ‘wackawoni’.


Although I try to cook for two, I always make a full crock pot of brown beans when I make them.  It is so much easier to freeze and thaw than to cook them when you want them.  When I had beans at home, most of the time they were great northern  with ’fat back’ or ‘salt pork’.  Most of the time there is no meat in my beans.  If I have pork shank or ham, I add a small amount. Only when I really am making bean  and ham soup, do I add  meat other than for seasoning.

I made this recipe by accident about two years ago.  One of my sisters came by and I looked in the fridge to figure out what to fix for lunch.  I had about a half-cup of beans  and half-cup of corn.  I put them in a small pot, dropped a small amount of ketchup and some cubed ham.  That was the quickest lunch I had made, so it became a keeper.

Normally, I add diced chili peppers, but this time decided to use salsa which is milder.

Spicy Pinto Bean, Corn and Ham Soup


Ingredients

3 cups pinto beans, cooked, seasoned, including any juice
2 cups ham, cooked, cubed
1 12-oz bag  frozen corn
1 15-oz can  diced tomatoes
1/2 cup medium heat red salsa
1 tsp ginger, ground
1 tsp fresh ginger, finely ground (used Gourmet fresh ginger in a tube)
1/2 cup water (if beans have no juice)

Procedure

Place beans in a large crock pot.

Add ham, juice from tomatoes.

Puree the tomatoes in a food processor until chopped. Add tomatoes to crockpot.

Microwave corn according to package and add to crockpot.

Add salsa to crockpot.

Stir to mix. Set crock pot to low.

Allow to cook 2 hours, occasionally stirring..

Serve hot

with a corn muffin



Servings: 6
Yield: makes 6 to 8 servings
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 267 calories, 3.6g total fat, 1.4g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 1g saturated fat, 25.7mg cholesterol, 39.3g carbohydrates, 10.9g fiber, 28.4g net carbohydrates, 5.9g sugar, 13g starch, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, 1.5g sucrose, <1g maltose, 1077.7mg sodium, 644.9mg potassium, 21.7g protein, 47mg calcium, 201.1IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mcg vitamin b12, 9.6mg vitamin c, 0IU vitamin d, 1mg vitamin e, 3.2mcg vitamin k, 3.1mg iron, 1.6g lysine, 17.7mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 2.3mg zinc, 0mg caffeine.

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Pinto Beans

Cold Weather equals Brown Beans with Cubed Ham AND Corn Muffins -Gluten-Free Option

As soon as it begins to get cold,  I begin thinking about how long before Spring. Actually December and January tend to be the coldest months.  Or maybe by February, it just doesn’t seem so cold

Remember that song intro “I’m a little bit country…”.  Well, I am cooking Country!


It took me a while to create a really good gluten-free corn muffin.  Now, I modify by what extra ingredients I want to add. This version comes out very light and fluffy, almost like a cake muffin. I posted my first version on Better Recipes: Gluten Free Corn Muffins. I have a holiday themed corn muffin: Holiday Corn Muffins GF and a spicy corn muffin: Spicy Salsa Corn Muffins.  The Spicy corn muffins can use red or green salsa.  I have used Cilantro and regular red in the mild to medium range.

Corn muffins and a pot of brown beans go hand in hand for weekend dinner.  It can be hard for  “empty nesters” to cook a small amount of beans, so most often too much gets cooked. 

Canned beans are great in a pinch, but that pot of real cooked beans has the best taste.  I always cook more than can be eaten in a few meals, so some gets frozen for later.  It is nice to then have a meal simply by either microwaving or heating on low about 30 minutes on the stove top.

Beans  and corn muffins provides a complete protein.

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Gluten-Free Corn Muffins II

Ingredients

1/2 cup stone ground yellow corn meal

1/2 cup fine corn flour (or Maseca)

1/3 cup 0% fat Greek Yogurt (used FAGE)

1/4 cup fine non-fat dry milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

2 Tbsp oil

1/3 cup water or more as needed

Procedure

Mix all ingredients thoroughly with a wire whisk or hand mixer.  If batter is too thick, add water 1 tablespoon at a time.  If too loose, add another tablespoon of Maseca.

Spray a 6 cup muffin pan with an oil spray

Divide batter among the 6 cups

Bake at 350 F oven until browned around the edges and top begins to brown (about 30 minutes).

Servings: 6

Yield: Makes 6 full-sized corn muffins

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 148 calories, 6.1g total fat, 3.8g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 1g saturated fat, 36.3mg cholesterol, 18.4g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 17.7g net carbohydrates, 3.2g sugar, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g sucrose, <1g maltose, 205.1mg sodium, 158.6mg potassium, 5.7g protein, 138.2mg calcium, 191.6IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin c, 2.9IU vitamin d, <1mg vitamin e, 2.8mcg vitamin k, 1.3mg iron, <1g lysine, 5.6mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mg zinc.

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a best guestimate recipe  --- a general listing of ingredients

Large Crockpot (slow cooker)

4 cups brown beans washed picked and soaked for 2 hours.

Spices

2 tbsp dehydrated onion

1 tbsp Dehydrated herb & Garlic mix

2 tbsp Turbinado (raw) sugar

1 tbsp ginger - a must for no toot beans

2 tbsp Cajun spice (low-sodium)

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp red pepper sauce (used Trappey’s)

2 cups cooked ham, cubed or cut into bite sized pieces

Place beans and spices in the Crockpot, covered with 4 cups hot water.

Cook beans on high for 1 hour, reduce  to low for 1 hour.  Check for seasoning and doneness.  If beans are tender, add 1 cup ketchup and 1 cup hot water, warmed ham cubes and additional seasonings to taste.. Stir to mix all ingredients.

Keep setting on low for another hour or additional time before ready to eat.

Serve up in bowls with corn muffins.  Serve corn muffin on side or on top of beans

This makes  8 to 10 large servings