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Articles and Information
Bare Cupboard Soup
by Mary Finch
"Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her poor dog a bone
But when she got there
The cupboard was bare
So the poor dog had none."
"There is nothing to eat, nothing at all!" my two children whined as they stood in front of the pantry. Taking a look myself, I almost agreed with them. It was the night before grocery day and the results were not impressive: a dozen bags of assorted beans, each containing less than 1/4 cup; a can of diced tomatoes; an onion; two cans vegetable stock; a lemon; some garlic cloves; and lots of spices.
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"What about chili?" Rebecca asked. But there were only a handful of kidney beans and no tomato paste. We vetoed that idea.
"Beans and cornbread?" Jarod suggested. Not enough pinto beans and we were out of cornmeal. Another option dismissed.
"How about if we just throw it all in a pot like that book you read Jarod…Stone Soup?" Rebecca said. I surveyed the items again….it just might work.
"Do you want to put a stone in it?" I replied, to which they both gave a resounding "No…that's gross!" So we called the soup…Bare Cupboard Soup.
We cooked and mixed and sprinkled liberally with spices and poured into bowls. It was quite tasty, in fact the best bean soup I have ever tasted. The children each ate four bowls and asked if we could make it every week. We do, even when our cupboards aren't bare.
Bare Cupboard Soup
What you need:
- 1 lb assorted dried beans - cooked and drained (I've used pinto, lima, northern, split pea, kidney, white, black, pink, red, lentil, navy and chickpea.)
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 24 ounces vegetable stock
- 1 onion - chopped
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- Chili powder
- Garlic Powder
- Cumin
- Parsley
- Salt
- 1 whole carrot - washed
In a skillet sauté onion and garlic in a little olive oil until onion is almost brown. Add canned tomatoes and lemon juice and turn the heat off. Place the beans in a large pot and cover with vegetable stock, there should be enough liquid to barely cover the beans, if not add some water or more stock. Add the onion mixture and spices of your choice. (I never measure the spices-- just dump them in until it tastes right. It was probably around 1 tablespoon of each.) Bring to a boil and than reduce heat to low. Add the whole carrot. Simmer for 30 minutes, discard the carrot, and enjoy!
About the carrot:
Up until a few months ago I was unable to eat dried beans. Each time I tried would result in massive stomach cramps; I was just not able to digest them without pain. I tried everything; Beano, baking soda, vinegar and numerous other ideas I had heard of. None of them helped and I finally gave up dried beans. However, one day I was talking with an 85 year old country woman who had lived on a farm her whole life, she knew everything there was to know about cooking. So I told her my problem and asked if she knew of a solution. "Well, sure honey." she relied. "You need to soak all that stink up is all. Now take ya a carrot and scrub it up good. When them beans are almost done you toss it in the pot and it will take care of that problem you got." It didn't sound like something that would do much good, but I tried it. When I took the carrot out of the beans I knew what she had meant by "soak up all the stink", the carrot had a terrible odor. And it worked; I have not had any discomfort since, as long as I let the carrot do its job.
Mary Eileen Finch, CD (DONA) lives in Arkansas along with her inspiring husband, Jason, and their three adorable children, Rebecca, Jarod, and Alex. She is a certified labor doula and a vegan of seven years.
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