Lima Bean Summer Soup
Live with the Seasons. Summer is a time to replenish fluids and eat more cool foods. On really hot days we may not feel like hot food. Pureed vegetable or bean soup nourishes the Agni or “Spleen Qi” with healthy herbs and spices, yet is great at room temperature or slightly chilled. See below for one of my favorite pureed bean soups.
Lima Bean Summer Soup Provencal
Ingredients
2 Cans Organic Lima Beans
2-3 plum tomatoes , or 2 tbsp tomato paste, more or less to taste
1 medium to large yellow or white onion, sliced
4-5 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
1-2 tsp Herbs d’ Provence, more or less to taste
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, start w/1 tsp each, or less.
1 tsp natural sugar or agave if the tomatos are not sweet
1/2 tsp balsemic or wine vinegar
1. Combine lima beans with tomato, and bring to the boil. What you are looking for with the tomato is a slight reddish color and a slight sweet/sour taste in the final product.
3. Sauté onions and garlic in Spanish or Greek olive oil until translucent.
4. Add some “Herbs d’ Provence” to the onion and garlic and sauté on very low another 5 minutes as the herb fragrance deepens. If you have trouble finding Herbs de Provence just use a mix of tarragon, sage, rosemary, parsley and basil
5. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Now puree the whole thing in the blender.
Garnishes
This is superb served warm or cool topped with croutons. I like, rather, to use the dried out ends of the natural sourdough (meaning made with natural sour, not baker’s yeast) multi-grain bread I get at Bread and Cie Bakery in San Diego
Try diced cucumber, mint, and a little yogurt, a nod in the direction of Afghanistan and Iran.
Alternate Ingredients
You could also boil celery and carrot in with the beans. Try the same concept with root vegetables like turnip, parsnip, and rutabaga. Play with the herb component. Try dill. Dill with Yogurt added in is classic. Bon Appetite!
