Navy Bean Soup with Carrots - Make a simple meal
Pressure cook sliced carrots with onions tomatoes and cooked navy beans, along with seasonings for 7-8 min. After natural pressure release, puree half cup of the mixture in a blender. Mix the puree with the remaining soup mixture, add water to adjust to desired consistency, add salt and remaining seasonings, then bring to a gentle boil. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve, steaming hot, along with crusty bread and aged cheese. Enjoy!
Equipment
- Pressure cooker preferred If not available, soup can be made in a saucepan, but will take longer. See Recipe Notes for details.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cooked Navy beans soaked overnight and cooked with a few spices preferred (see Recipe Notes for details); canned beans OK
- 1 cup Baby carrots - sliced other types of carrots OK: if carrots are thick, slice in quarters lengthwise, then slice across,1/8 inch (1/4 cm) thick; see directions for easy-slicing tip
- 1 cup Onions - diced medium any variety OK
- 1 cup Tomatoes - diced medium any variety OK
- 1-2 leaves Bay leaves tear each into 2-3 pieces
- 1-2 whole Star Anise
- 1 tsp Fennel powder
- 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper spicy
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper - freshly crushed preferred
- 1/2 tsp Salt adjust as needed
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil / butter
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
Garnish
- 1/4 cup Fresh parsley (optional) - chopped if not available, use cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
- 5-6 whole Fresh Basil leaves (optional) - roughly hand-torn if not available, use 2 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 cup Sliced green onions - green tops (optional) about 4-5 green onions
- 2 tbsp Shredded Parmesan (optional)
- 1 tbsp Chilli Oil (optional) See Recipe Notes for making a quick chilli oil
Instructions
- Place baby carrots in a ceramic/glass bowl, add 1/4 cup water and microwave for 1 min.
- Transfer the blanched carrots to a cutting board, saving the cooking water. When carrots have cooled a little, slice into 1/8 inch (1/4 cm) thick rounds.
- Dice the onions - medium
- Measure the cooked navy beans. I like to start from dried beans, which I soak and cook with some spices. See Recipe Notes for details. If you are in a time-crunch, canned navy beans are fine too.
- Place sliced carrots, diced onions and cooked navy beans in a pressure cooker insert container. Also add the saved cooking water from blanching the carrots.
- Add all the spices: bay leaf, star anise, black pepper, crushed red pepper and salt. Do not add butter/olive oil and paprika at this stage.
- Dice the tomatoes - small-medium
- Add the tomatoes to the bean-carrot mixture and stir to mix. Place a rack in the pressure cooker and add 2 cups of water. Place the container with the soup mixture on the rack and cook at full pressure for 8-10 min. While the mixture cooks, prep the garnish ingredients: rinse and chop parsley, green onions, basil, etc. Also prepare the Chilli oil, if you don't have some on hand.
- Allow pressure to release normally (about 10-12 min). If using Instant Pot, it's OK to release remaining pressure manually after about 10 min of natural pressure release.
- Remove the bay leaf pieces and the star anise. Transfer about 1/2 cup of the cooked mixture to a blender jar, add 1 cup of water and puree.
- Pureed mixture: I like to keep a little texture to the puree but you can blend it smooth if you prefer.
- Transfer this pureed mixture as well as the rest of the soup mixture to a heavy-bottom saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil (about 3-4 min).Add 1 tbsp butter/olive oil and 1/2 tsp paprika
- Stir to mix. Taste test - adjust salt if needed, up to 1/4 tsp more, as per your taste preference,
- Garnish with your choice of fresh herbs, etc. Serve, alongside fresh bread and butter, Chilli oil and cheese. Pair with a fresh greens salad if you like for a satisfying and hearty meal.Enjoy!
Notes
Cooking Navy beans from dried beans:
I prefer to use home-cooked beans. I soak dried beans, then pressure-cook them with a few spices for extra flavor. I often cook an extra batch or two and stash the cooked beans (in separate 1 cup portions) in the freezer. For this soup recipe, you will need about 1/3 (5-6 tbsp) cup dried beans:- Rinse 1/3 cup beans a few times, scrubbing a little to remove surface dirt; drain and soak overnight (8-10 hours) with 1/2 cup water in a stainless steel pressure cooker insert container.
- By morning, the beans will have soaked and swelled to more than double their size; almost all the water will have been absorbed.
- Add a little more fresh water - just enough to barely cover the beans- about 1/4 cup or so.
- Add a bay leaf, a small stick of cinnamon, 3-4 whole black peppercorns, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.
- Place the rack inside the pressure cooker and add 2 cups water; position the container with the beans on the rack, close the lid and cook at full pressure for 20 min. Allow pressure to release normally -
- Do not force-release the pressure, since the beans continue to cook during the natural pressure-release process.
- Remove the cooked beans from the pressure cooker and use as directed in the recipe.
Cooking soup without pressure cooker:
If a pressure cooker is not available, you can make this soup in a saucepan. However, it will take a bit longer to cook the vegetables. Total cooking time about 30-35 min.- Heat 1 cup water in medium saucepan ( 2-3 quart/liter)
- Add bay leaf, star anise, black pepper, fennel seeds, onions and carrots and bring to a gentle boil.
- Cover and simmer on low-medium heat, about 10-12 min, stirring 3-4 times. Add 1/2 cup water if needed.
- Alternatively, to save some time, separately cook onions and carrots in the microwave (2-3 min each on Hi), before adding these semi-cooked veggies to the saucepan where the water is being simmered with the spices. Continue to simmer 2-3 min to blend flavors.
- Add tomatoes and 1/2 cup water. Continue to simmer 7-10 min, covered.
- Again, you can save a little time by first microwaving the tomatoes for 2-3 min on Hi, before adding to the carrot-onion broth.
- Add cooked beans and 1/2 cup water. Simmer 5-7 min.
- At this stage, proceed further as directed in the recipe, starting with transferring 1/2 cup of the mixture to a blender jar for pureeing.
Make a quick multi-purpose Chilli Oil:
- Add 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (cayenne) and 1 tsp paprika to a small bowl.
- Add 2 tbsp oil (any kind you like)
- Stir to mix
- Set aside for about 20-30 min or longer for the color and flavor to infuse into the oil.
- Use as a topping for soups, as a spicy dipping sauce, stir into dips, etc.
Storing leftovers:
In refrigerator: Store in glass/ceramic container. Reheat and consume within 2-3 days.- Add fresh garnish before serving.
- To thaw, remove cover and microwave on defrost setting (30% power) till softened.
- Stir and continue to heat (covered) on medium power till heated through, stirring occasionally.
- Add fresh garnish before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 157kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 7gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 370mgPotassium: 590mgFiber: 8gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 7041IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 156mgIron: 3mg
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