It's Eliz!

I was digging around in a drawer in the kitchen today and found this:

I got it at Trader Joe’s a long time ago. It was kind of rainy and cool today, so I decided to make soup for dinner! I started soaking the beans around 7 this morning, and then let them soak until 6 this evening. Soaking the beans helps them cook a lot more quickly!

I made pickled carrots today, and didn’t want to waste the peels left over. I also didn’t have any broth, so I simmered these carrot peels with water for a few hours to make a vegetable stock. After 3 hours or so, I added some onion tops and a few cloves of garlic, and then simmered it all until I was ready to use it.

I chopped up a few carrots and two yellow onions.

And about 4 cloves of garlic.

The spices were simple – Italian seasoning, red chili peppers, salt, pepper.

When I was ready to cook, I drained and rinsed the beans. Then I strained the stock (about 3 cups) and added it to the pot with about 4 cups of water.

I also added a pint of canned tomatoes that I put up last summer.

I cooked the onions, carrots, garlic, and spices in about 2 TB of olive oil. Once everything was soft, I added the veggies to the pot, brought to a boil, and then reduced to a simmer for about an hour.

I chopped up some bacon and cooked it until super crispy for a garnish.

Along with parmesan cheese.

Dinner is served.

I think this is the best soup I have ever made.

Good thing there are plenty of leftovers.