Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Creamy Peanut Butter Soup with Northern Beans

With the temperature falling to freeze levels and below each day for the last few days, hearty soups seem so appealing right now that they feature often in my dinner menu. I made this soup inspired by a recipe that I recently saw in a cookbook called 1001 vegetarian recipes that I found in my library.

I tweaked the recipe quite a bit and loved the simplicity and taste of the soup. I have never used peanut butter in a soup before so I was not very sure how that would work, but my fears turned out to be groundless. The peanut butter added an interesting taste and imparted a nice creaminess to the soup. I thought a little pearl barley would have been a great addition to this soup, but I did not add it this time, I will be sure to add it the next time I make this....

PeanutButterSoup resized


Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make peanut butter soup with northern beans

3/4 cup dried northern white beans soaked in sufficient water with a pinch of soda for about 8 hours or overnight (the soda is optional)
2 medium onions cut fine
2 large carrots cut into small pieces
3 stalks celery cut into small pieces
1 inch ginger minced
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups vegetarian vegetable stock or water ( I used stock)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or any other oil)
salt according to taste
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder ( or according to taste)
1/2 tsp paprika (optional)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp lemon juice

Soak the white beans in sufficient water with a pinch of soda (soda is optional) for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Drain the beans and fill with fresh water and either pressure cook the beans or cook on stove top in a large heavy bottomed pan until the beans are soft but not mushy.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions to it and saute until the onions are transparent.

Add minced ginger and minced garlic and stir for a few seconds.

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Add celery, carrots, spices, salt and vegetable stock or water and let it simmer until vegetables are cooked.

When the vegetables are cooked, add cooked beans, salt if required and water to achieve required consistency and simmer for the flavors to blend together

Mix peanut butter with half a cup of water and whisk together, pour this diluted peanut butter into the soup.

Let the soup simmer for a few more minutes.

Finally add lemon juice to the soup and serve hot with bread of choice.

Yields approximately 2 to 3 servings.

Suggested Variation
Add 1/4 cup of pearl barley along with the vegetables and allow it to cook with the veggies. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as mentioned above.

This hearty soup is off to the Monthly Mingle event- Soups being hosted by Sunshinemom and originally started by Meeta

27 comments :

Pari Vasisht said...

Even I have never tried peanut butter in soup, this soup just invites me to finish it right now.

Archana said...

Peanut butter in a soup ! Wow, thats really new..Looks like a nice hearty soup...

Gita Jaishankar said...

I too never tried adding peanut butter to soup though the combo sounds interesting...these days I too started making soups quite often for dinner...will definitely try your soup soon :)

Shama Nagarajan said...

delicious soup dear..nice click

Nandinis food said...

What creamy soup! I love the color and it's excellent!

Devasena Hariharan said...

Lots of vegetables, very nutritive

Dolly Sharma said...

Ur Soup looks delish and very comforting. Who could have thought about adding peanut butter in a soup. Brilliant.Healthy combo. Beautiful Click too.Thanks for visiting my blog.You have a beautiful space here.I'll be following you. Thanks for sharing the wonderful and amazing Pencil art Pictures with us.

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a tremendous idea of using peanut butter in soup..soup looks comforting and filling..

Vrinda said...

Very unique soup..sounds gr8

Pam said...

Yum. This soup looks and sounds delicious!

Alexa said...

Probably over ten years ago TraderJoes carried a peanut soup that they later discontinued. My husband is still grieving its disappearance.:-) I'll have to surprise him with your wonderful creation Usha!

kitchen queen said...

The soup looks very healthy and appetising.Thanks for visiting my blog and giving a nice comment.Utoo have a nice blog.You can visit me whenever u want, its my pleasure.

Cham said...

An unusual flavor- we badly need soup this days!

Myvegfare said...

Oh!, thanks for the soup usha, i am going to try this, everyday my daughter keeps pestering me to make some soup or the other, with peanut butter, never made it, it is very healthy for her!!, she would love it.

Finla said...

A real warm and hearty soup.

Swati said...

Dear Usha

Thanks a ton for dropping in so promptly and remembering me.
I have a lot to catch up on the so many posts which I have missed...
Great soup..

Madhavi said...

Very nice recipe and soup looks delicious!!

Dershana said...

Hi Usha, that must have tasted lovely. my neighbourhood chinese place adds peanut butter into a lot of gravies, and i love it. this must have tasted great!

Laavanya said...

I love PB in my oats - the creamy texture is unbeatable and I can see liking this soup as well. Protein rich & filling.

Priya Narasimhan said...

thats one wholesone, hearty, healthy soup.

Priya Narasimhan said...

thats one wholesome hearty healthy soup.

Supriya said...

I love peanut butter and beans, so this soup sounds perfect for me.

Sunshinemom said...

I have used peanut butter in cookies but in soup is very interesting! This looks warm, spicy and delicious - thanks for the entry, Usha.

Ana Powell said...

I like this idea a lot, I have never tried peanut butter in soup.
Delicious, thanks for sharing it x

Anupama said...

That is one hearty soup. Btw, does this northern white beans have a name... just curious to know if it would be available in the US..

sangeeta said...

Hi Usha ..'thanks for dropping by as this way i found your blog too..
this PB soup looks yummy with beans in it..i have tried a PB sauce with assorted veggies , which is in my archives too...but with beans i think it will be a winter comfort food...some sauce is lying in my fridge n i know what to do with that now...
loved your recent posts about simple cauli subzi n cranberry chutny too...

Sanjana said...

I've tried something similar before in the way of using peanut butter Thai soup but this method is very different. It looks really delicious!

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