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Whats for lunch?
Lately, for lunch Jason and I have been eating this Vegan chile bean and veggie soup. It is really good, easy to make and don’t have to cook lunch during the week. This soup is made out of a crock pot and saves me tons of money since the ingredients I use is also cheap. It gives us about 12 bowls, so it is enough for 6 days of lunch.
Vegan chile bean and veggie soup
- 2 bags of dry black beans
- 1 juice of a lemon
- 1c. of low sodium veggie stock
- 1-16oz. bag of frozen Okra
- 1-16 oz. bag of frozen carrots
- 1-16oz. frozen corn
- 4 cans of no salt added diced tomatoes
- 2 cans 7 oz. green chiles diced
- 2 cans 4 oz. jalapenos diced
- Sea salt to taste
- Ground Cumin to taste
- Chile powder to taste
- Garlic powder to taste
- Soak beans over night or for at least 8 hours. They will expand, so make sure it has plenty of water to keep them covered.
- For the next part, I usually have to cook my beans in 2 pots. Drain the beans and put it into 1-2 pots and fill with water about 3/4 the way to the top. Bring beans to a boil, and this will take about 10 min. Once to a boil, turn it down low to simmer for another 35-40 min.
- Drain beans and add to a 8 quart crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot.
- When it comes to seasonings, I probably add more than what most people would with the exception of salt. I probably would add half the container of chile powder, half the container of cumin, fourth of container of garlic and probably 5-8 turns of sea salt, and I don’t like too much salt. It makes me thirsty, but add what you tend to like when it comes to seasonings.
- I turn it on high for 2 hours, then turn it to low for 1 hour, and then it is done. I tend to do this, because I don’t want to over cook my veggies, and I like when it is al dente; tender but still a bite. It is enough to warm and combine. You might be different and want to have it on low for 8 hours while you are at work.
Lets make this different!
- Instead of black beans, you can try kidney beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, lentils or what ever type of bean you want, or you could also try a combination!
- Switch out veggies! You could try broccoli, cauliflower, edamame, water crescent, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, onion, mushroom, spinach, ect… What ever you like
- Switch out seasonings! You could add onion powder, paprika, maybe some sriracha, italian seasoning, tomato paste, liquid smoke, nutrional yeast, ect…
The cost and where I got each item:
Black Beans – Meijers – $1 each (there was a sale for 5 for $5)
- tomatoes no salt added diced – Meijers – $.49 each
- jalapenos diced- Meijers- $1 each
- carrots frozen – Meijers – $1 each ( sale 10 for 10) 16 oz
- corn frozen- Meijers – $1 each (sale 10 for 10) 16 oz
- chilies diced- Meijers – $1.25
- okra frozen- Whole Foods – $1.49 16 oz
- Engine two plant strong veggie stock – Whole Foods – $2.99 32oz
- Lemon – Aldi – $1.99 2lb bag about 8
- Chili powder – Aldi – $.95 each
- Garlic powder – Aldi – $.95 each
- Cumin – Aldi – $.95 each
- Sea salt – Aldi – $1.99
TOTAL: $21.77
This is how much everything cost not the recipe. If I have nothing at home and wanted to make this, this is what it would cost. I estimate the recipe would cost about $15.12 since I’m not using all ingredients such as seasonings, lemons, and veggie stock.
Not bad for 12 bowls for lunch!