Monday, January 7, 2008

tomato bean soup and whole wheat maple bread

Another unspoken New Year's resolution I have had swirling in my head has been to eat some sort of bean/pea/legume each and everyday. I have always been a big nerd about nutrition and since becoming vegan, it's gotten worse (I have a Vegan Food Pyramid as the background on my computer). It occurred to me that these small but hearty, unassuming but flavorful little gems are even more important to me now than they ever have been. The great news is that I love all sorts of beans/peas AND most importantly, my body tolerates them extremely well. Today I am consciously making this an everyday thing (poor Jared . . . I may have to pick up some Beano!) although since New Year’s Day, I have eaten at least one serving of beans everyday!
Today for lunch I made a tomato bean soup that started out with a carrot, a rib of celery, a few garlic cloves, half of a sweet onion and a good sized sweet potato all diced up and cooked in about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. I also added a bay leaf, a bit of curry powder, oregano, sea salt, black pepper and a little celery salt. I added 2 cups of veggie stock, 2 cups of water and a whole big can of crushed tomatoes with about a tablespoon of natural sugar. For the beans I threw in about 1/3 cup of dry brown lentils and about a cup of leftover cooked garbanzo beans I had in the fridge. Topped with parsley, I am one happy girl!
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As a side to my soup, I had a slice of this amazing loaf of Whole Wheat Maple bread I made yesterday. This loaf was made in my bread machine and only had whole-wheat pastry flour, vital wheat gluten, water, yeast, maple syrup, sea salt and Earth Balance margarine. This loaf came out dense and chewy, perfect for soup.
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13 comments:

Anna said...

That all looks delish! The bean/legume a day is certainly a good idea. They're supposed to be a real wonder food, right? Love the maple syrup in the bread concept too.

Theresa said...

What a healthy and yummy new years resolution. And super-yum to both the soup and the bread. Dense, sweet bread.... *drool*

Unknown said...

looks wonderful! i could eat beans everyday. i LOVE them. and the bread looks warm. i am imagining it still warm & slicing it & putting eb on it. yummy!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Mmm what a delicious-looking New Year's resolution.

OOh, and I am having the oatmeal pudding for breakfast tomorrow too... so we will be twins :o)

Jenny Wren said...

Soup and fresh bread! Probably my favorite thing. I think I need a bread maker.

Cakespy said...

Dude! That bread looks like amazing. Dense and slightly sweet, but hearty. Winning!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Wow, sounds like a great meal!

Vegan_Noodle said...

That soup looks so hearty and delicious! And very admirable that you are trying to eat beans everyday. I should eat more too...

Okay a complete aside, but kinda wierd, I swear it feels like I'm always the 8th person to comment on your posts (or maybe I'm just going crazy). I think I will have to satisfy my curiousity and go back and look now...

jd said...

Mmmm...that soup looks divine! I'll definitely have to give it a try.

And by the way, that whole beans/indigestion issue will improve a lot as your body gets used to eating them. I eat beans pretty much every day, & my bf hasn't killed me yet, so don't worry :)

Good luck!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I'm so happy to hear that you're able to eat without much stomach discomfort these days - the soup and the maple bread look and sound quite palatable!

Leigh said...

I'm all about your maple bread right now. It looks and sounds perfect.

Anonymous said...

Just found your blog via Fat-Free Vegan. That soup looks delish!

FYI, Beano is not vegetarian (it's made from fish). There is a vegan alternative called Say Yes to Beans.

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

willendorf5761- thanks for the tip about Beano. I haven't used Beano since becoming vegan, so it's good to know before I went to get some. I'll be on the look out for yr suggestion!