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Friday, May 08, 2009

Lima Bean and Wild Rice Soup


This is hardly soup weather-at least around here. Still, it made quite a bit of food with what are essentially pantry staples for us. I adapted a recipe that called for chicken and all manner of other items You can find the original recipe HERE, and my vegetarian version below.

The curry powder sounds odd, but it really does work well, and is more subtle than you might expect. I served this soup with generous wedges of Sally Lunn bread, and some roasted potatoes. It made a lot. I suspect we'll be eating it all weekend.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup tinned mushrooms, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup all purpose flour
6 cups broth (veggie or chicken)
4 cups cooked wild rice
4 cups cooked extra large lima beans
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (I used Madras)
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (I used Coleman's)
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cups half and half

Melt butter in a large stock pot and add the carrots and onion. Cook until softened over medium heat-about five minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook another minute. Stir in the flour and mix well. Slowly add the broth, stirring constantly as you go. Bring it all to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the rest. Cover, and cook on a very (VERY) low simmer for about two hours. The original recipe cautions not to let it come to a boil once mixed or it will break the roux, which sounds right to me.

3 comments:

  1. Raymond5:38 AM

    Oh man, that sounds good...
    You know, I *HATED* lima beans as a boy. But now, Mmmm! Quite a nice taste!

    A friend of mine has a business that's really taking off for him. He's becoming the national master of hierloom beans, whatever that means, exactly. He's reviving and saving rarely known varieties of beans, and now working with growers in Mexico to plant more and he imports them. Apparently FRESHly grown beans make all the difference. And he extols the tastes of the different varieties. Here's his site:

    http://ranchogordo.com/

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  2. I wish I could afford his beans-I've had a look around there before resulting in some serious bean envy.

    I'm growing some in the garden this summer-I'll let you know how it works out.

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  3. Raymond7:08 PM

    Cool.
    I've got artichokes just about big enuf to eat - can't decide if I want to cut the first one off the plant today, or wait 'til tomorrow. I've got about 5 just about ready, and another 5 that are still pretty small, but by the time I'm done with the currently-ready ones...
    And I think I planted some squash seeds in a barrel on my patio: something has just come up and I kinda remember sticking the seeds into the soil. I got the seeds from a fresh squash I bought last year; saved the seeds in a baggie in the freezer since then.

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