The Bean & Seed

As mentioned in my previous post, “Turning Cravings into Kitchen Staples”, I’d like to start off my Easy Recipe series by sharing the first soup recipe I came up with on my own. The goal of this soup is to be affordable, hearty, and low in sodium. Most importantly, it is super easy to make. As with any soup, refrigerating and allowing it to marry makes it especially good for subsequent meals.

Prep Time of 45 Minutes

Ingredients

• 8 ounces of Organic Elbow Macaroni – I’m specifying organic as I think you’ll find it to be higher in fiber and protein; this will add to the heartiness of the soup.
• 64 ounces of Low Sodium Beef Broth – You could substitute a vegetable broth to keep this vegetarian. I’m using beef broth because it was lower in sodium than the vegetable broth available at my local Target.
• 2 cans, or 29 ounces, of Hunt’s Basil, Garlic & Oregano Diced Tomatoes. You could use any diced tomatoes you want, but I’m recommending these because they come seasoned and limit the number of ingredients you’ll need for the recipe. I’ve tried similar store brand options if you’ve got another you’d like to try. It is important that the tomatoes you use are seasoned, however, as this easy recipe does not include additional seasoning outside of pepper.
• 1 can, or 15 ounces, of Chickpeas. Again, if there is an option that includes more fiber and protein, that’s what I’d go with.
• 1 bag, or 10 ounces, of frozen Peas & Carrots. You could substitute any vegetable combo you want here.
• 1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s very important to stick with olive oil to maintain the flavor we’re going for with this recipe.
• Any amount of Pepper you would like. No need to use it if you’d rather not.

Step by Step

Using the elbow macaroni instructions, begin by preparing the macaroni in a large pot; I use a stock pot capable of holding all of the ingredients so that I only dirty one pot during prep.

Once the macaroni is finished, set it aside to drain and add the peas & carrots, diced tomatoes, chickpeas, olive oil, and pepper to the original pot. I start with the frozen peas & carrots since the pot is already warm and I don’t want anything to burn.

The macaroni should be finished draining at this point, so return it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients and stir everything up so that it is blended together well.

Finally, add the broth to the pot after mixing the other ingredients together to avoid splashing as much as possible.

At this point you can cook the remaining ingredients over medium heat for about 30 minutes. You’ll need to stir occasionally. If it starts to boil, you can back the heat off a bit. You’ll basically know it’s finished when you’re happy with the tenderness of the peas & carrots and especially the chickpeas.

Nutritional Information

Based on 8 servings without crackers, the per serving numbers are as follows:

• Calories: 230
• Fat: 3 g
• Sodium: 738 mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 41 g
• Fiber: 6 g
• Sugar: 7 g
• Protein: 10 g
• Calcium: 48 mg
• Iron: 2 mg
• Potassium: 436 mg
• Vitamin A: 136 mcg
• Vitamin C: 9 mg

Patreon

I don’t intend to bring this up often, but I think I’ll feature it on recipes. If you’ve appreciated this recipe and want to support further culinary exploration, please consider giving on Patreon. Anything given will literally put food on the table and make future recipes and content possible.

Thanks for reading, Matt

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