Its soup time. At the time of me writing this, Hurricane Isaias is traveling through The Bahamas. Today alone I’ve shot 4 pieces of content, did my laundry, mopped my place out and got to cleaning the fridge. Customarily, a hurricane prompts you to clean your fridge and use up all the items which may spoil first, so that tends to be things you’ve had in the refrigerator the longest or may be prone to spoilage.
So this time, I looked at all the odds and ends from my fridge and the extras I have from multiple Showman e-Bistro Boxes. Trust me, there were so many things that needed to be used and I was up to the challenge.
Now, I want to call this bean soup, but truly it had more of everything in it, so I’ll call it LOADED Bean Soup, made my way.
Ingredients:
4 cups dried lima beans (cooked)
½ cup diced sweet peppers
½ cup diced celery
1 cup cubed carrots
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 half-ripe plantain
1 ear fresh corn cut into small pieces
1 ½ cups cubed pumpkin
2 cups cubed sweet potato
2 cups coarsely shredded cabbage
2 tbsps vegetable oil
5 cups broth (chicken, vegetables, beef or plain water)
1 ½ lbs ham
1 lb cooked turkey wings
½ lb salt beef
1 lb tenderized fresh conch
Dumplings
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
½ tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar (or not)
Water as needed
This should serve between eight to nine people a two-cup portion size of soup each.
If you really want to watch this delicious pot go down, well, here ya go
Method:
Preparations:
Before we get started, here’s what I need to tell you. I cooked my beans in the rice cooker. Major hack! I put them dry into the rice cooker, added water and salt and let the rice cooker do the work. Trust me, I was so happy. No pressure cooker and in 1 hour, they were fully cooked and ready to eat. I periodically added water as the beans absorbed them, but the rice cooker is definitely a must have.
Next, I seasoned and roasted the turkey wings in the oven at 250 degrees for 1 ½ hours. By the time the beans were done, so were the turkey wings.
Finally, cutting the salt beef up finely helps it to cook quickly. No pre-boiling needed. Additionally, I cut the ham into bite-sized pieces. And that cut the cook time down significantly. If you’re trying to conserve gas, cutting everything into bite sized pieces makes them easier to share and quicker to cook.
The Business:
Heat the soup-pot, then add 2 tbsps of vegetable oil. Fry the diced salt beef until the fat renders itself. When the fat and salt has rendered add the onions, tomatoes, sweet pepper, and celery. Let them cook until they are almost translucent and the tomatoes begin to disintegrate. Next add dried thyme and Bay leaf (plus any other spices that you like). Let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the ham and let that cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Your pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and carrots go in next. Why? Because we want them to disintegrate a bit and thicken the soup. Add two cups of water (or broth) and bring it to a boil, taste and then season your soup a bit more. Next, add your lima beans, turkey pieces, corn and plantain (cook for another 10 minutes), and add another 3 cups of water (or broth). While that’s boiling, mix and form your dumplings.
You want to add your conch pieces now. Because the conch is fresh, you don’t need to overcook the conch. After adding the conch, add the dumplings one by one and follow that with the cabbage. You’ll know your dumplings are ready when they start to sink. Additionally, the cabbage should wilt, not disintegrate in the pot when it’s done, so it should still have its color.
Soups are a great way to bring families together and bring you and your family comfort. Here’s to hoping this recipe filled with love brings some comfort to you and your family.