Hearty White Bean Soup

Let's see, when last commented on (In the Comments to this post), I had just gone back on the inhaled steroids, was then given a round of antibiotics, was ordered to use the nasal inhaler the doc  was prescribing, and told to force fluids to clear up that newest round of asthma and bronchitis. He kept the asthma med at the same dose strength but really wanted to put me back on the one twice as strong that he reduced back in 2017 AND put me on oral steroids, but once I plead my case to go easy on the steroids because of my cataracts he: 1) argued that inhaled steroids don't have anything to do with cataract development (I told him to just Google it or use any of the medical web sites he and the student docs have access to and he'll find I'm not making it up) and 2) caved in and didn't prescribe them when the student showed him some on-line article proving my assertion, but I now have to go back to him in early October so he can see how I'm doing. Since it's been over a month now since all this crap started and I picked up the Advair inhaler again and I still have bouts of coughing and laryngitis, I'm afraid he may win this war, afterall. I absolutely hate oral steroids! They make me feel weird, plus they really give me the screaming munchies! One round in the past led to 50 pound weight increase. :(

In the meantime, I've been making a lot of soup meals because they're not only easy to make but easy to get down this occasionally sore throat of mine. The antibiotics weren't for anything in my chest but he said my throat was as red as the shirt I was wearing that day. Well, duh! If he were coughing 20 out of 24 hours a day, his throat would be red and sore, too! I never did have a fever or pulmonary wheezing, just the cough, cough, cough. At least most of that is behind me and aside from some soreness in my neck muscles, the throat is fine (I hope).

Anyway (I DO get off on tangents!), many of the soups I've made have been the old tried and true Mary McDougall ones, like Festive Dal Soup, Mexi Soup, Bean and Corn Soup (a.k.a. Your Kids Will Love This Soup, Quick Black Bean Soup, Split Pea Soup (both with green split peas and white potatoes and yellow split peas and sweet potatoes - tonight's dinner, BTW). Other soups have been Jill McKeever's Soy Curls Noodle Soup, and even the Bob's Red Mill Veggie Soup Mix. Many of my lunches were one of the soups or chilis from the Harmony House Sample Kit (Yes, even the one or 2 with TVP. Don't tell Dr. McDougall!) if I had no soup leftovers.

I had assumed soup weather was going to be here by now, but temps are still in the low 80's most days. I already have menus made out for the next few weeks with mostly soup meals planned. I'm so glad neither my husband or myself mind hot soups on warm days. Some days it's those same old tried-and-true recipes, but every now and then I have planned a new-to-me soup. The one I made last night, Hearty White Bean Soup, goes back to the fairly new book The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook.

NEW??? OMG!! That book is from 1999 - it's 20 years old already!! I also react this way when people on TV say someone lives in an "old" house that was "built almost 30-50 years ago." In our city, a 50 year old house is referred to as one of the *new* houses in town! The house I'm currently living in goes back to the 1920's, the 6-family house I was born in from the 1880's.

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Hearty White Bean Soup

servings: 8

prep time: 15 minutes

cooking time: 30 minutes

1/2 cup water

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1 15-ounce cans white beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon soy sauce

several twists freshly ground black pepper

Place the water in a large pot and add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and cabbage. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Remove bay leaf before serving.

So, what kind of comments do I have? I used frozen diced onion, half a pound; for a change I used fresh carrots that I chopped up a few days ago with the Vidalia Chop Wizard; I used dehydrated celery flakes instead of fresh; half a bag of Dole cole slaw mix for the cabbage; and as usual, skipped the bay leaf.

Delicious! And yes, hearty. My husband said it was so filling he didn't need any bread to sop up the liquid. He also requested it again soon. Lucky for him I still have half a bag of cole slaw mix in the refrigerator, so his wish will be my command later this week.