Meg's Epic Six Bean Stew

Such a pretty bowl of beans.

I'm a little proud of myself, I must say. I've never made a stew before. Ever. But, bean soup had been sounding particularly yummy, and bean soups from restaurants around here are nearly always made with ham. Gross. Since I can't bear to eat my lil piggy friends, I decided to try my hand at making a VEGAN multi-bean stew. Success! It was absolutely fantastic with some garlic naan. I'm not sure if it's just me, but bean stew (or soup) pretty much always requires bread to go with it. Don't want the bread, then don't have it. No skin off my back. Whatever.

Legumes used:

• cranberry beans
• black-eye peas
• pinto beans
• chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• light red kidney beans
• black beans

So, since I insisted on using dried beans, you can't really just whip up this soup. You need to soak and cook your beans. I'm thinking my beans took about 90 minutes to cook. Just put the soaked beans into a large pot and cover with several inches of water. I added 1 TB Kosher salt to mine and cooked with the lid askew until the chickpeas were done. The 3 cups of dried beans will magically morph into about 6 cups.

This recipe makes a TON. At least 6 large bowls. Which is perfect for me as I love soups and stews better the second and third days. It just seems like the flavors have more time to meld and get awesome. Or whatever.

What I used:

• 1/2 cup dried cranberry chocolate
• 1/2 cup dried black-eye peas
• 1/2 cup dried pinto beans
• 1/2 cup dried chickpeas
• 1/2 cup dried light red kidney beans
• 1/2 cup dried black beans
• 1 large idaho potato, peeled and diced small (about the size of dried chickpea)
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly about 1/8-1/4 inch
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• about 5 cups of your favorite veggie broth
• 1 tsp all purpose seasoning (I prefer Simply Organic brand)
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• salt to your tastes
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp curry powder of your choice (mine's a spicy muchi curry powder)
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

What I did:

1. After the beans were cooked, I drained them and added them to my large soup pot. Add all the ingredients. Stir well. Cook about 30 minutes over medium heat with the lid on. Stir every once in a while. 
2. Then remove the lid and let the soup cook down over medium-low heat for about 20 more minutes. 
3. I pureed about half of my soup with an immersion blender to make some of it smooth. You can use a blender or a food processor if you want, but be careful, hot liquids can make small explosions. Stir it all together and you're done.