A's Lima Bean Soup

 

 

I'm sending another slow cooker recipe your way this week. I've been too busy to cook, so I've been throwing ingredients together at night and letting them slow-cook while we're sleeping. Isn't it amazing? The crockpot is doing the work for me while I sleep. So this recipe goes out to all of the stressed people in the world. :)

 

  Most kids hate lima beans (and many adults too). I love them. Always have. Always will. This recipe brings lima beans front and center. They're cooked to a buttery-soft consistency and intermingled with all kinds of other good-for-you veggies.

Total time: about 7 hours. Active time: less than 5 minutes if you have everything chopped and ready to go. Makes 10 servings.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 packages of frozen lima beans
• 1 cup of frozen corn kernels
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 5 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 can of butter beans
• 2 Tbsp butter (I'd say this is optional, but it adds to the consistency of the broth)
• 16 ounces of veggie broth
• 1 cup of water
• 1 splash of lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp of ginger
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 1/4 tsp of paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste

Throw everything in the crockpot. Mix it up.

Set the crockpot on low. Let it cook low and slow. 5 hours would be sufficient, but if you let it cook longer (say, overnight) you'll want to make sure you have enough liquid to keep it moist. The veggies will let out moisture as it cooks and the final goal is a fairly hearty almost stew-like soup, but you don't want it to dry out. Add more liquid when in doubt. I let mine cook for 7 hours which is probably the max amount of time you'd want to let it go.

It's seriously that simple. Could it be any easier?

No. No, it could not.

Adam's taste rating: 2 ladles

Alina's taste rating: 3 ladles

Healthy rating: 5 ladles

Ease of prep rating: 5 ladles

Overall average: 3.75 ladles

 

This recipe could easily be tweaked in many ways.

 

Suggested variances:

• Add ham or bacon if you're a carnivore.
• Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes or more fresh tomatoes. I put a single tomato in, but you could drastically change this soup if you gave it a strong tomato base.
• Try adding balsmamic vinegar and perhaps add more ginger (or fresh ginger).
• Add another veggie, like cauliflower or brussels sprouts.
• Use a chicken broth as the base instead of a veggie broth.