Vegan Recipes - Soups

White Bean and Basil Soup

By Didi Emmons White Bean and Basil Soup

This soup tastes so fresh and looks like the colors in the Italian flag. Remember that the soup is very hot. When my son was little, I used to add an ice cube to help cool it down so he could eat it right away.

Ingredients:

2 cups Cannellini (Italian white kidney) or Great Northern beans, presoaked or quick soaked
Vegetable cooking spray or 2 teaspoons oil
1 medium onion, diced to equal 1 cup
3 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
1 cup diced potatoes
6 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups diced, peeled and seeded tomatoes, or canned tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped plus some sprigs for garnish
1 tablespoon lemon juice or balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons grated soy Parmesan (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Spray the cooker with cooking spray. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves and thyme. Lock on lid. Turn heat to high and bring to high pressure. Set timer for 7 minutes. Turn heat to low to maintain high pressure.

When the timer sounds, turn off heat and move pot to a cool spot on the stove. Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.

Carefully remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Remove the bay leaves. Using a hand blender, carefully mix the hot soup until it is mostly creamy, with a few whole beans left in for texture.

Return the pot to the burner and set the heat at medium. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes on top of the stove (uncovered), simmering and stirring occasionally until the tomatoes begin to soften. If using canned tomatoes, no further cooking is necessary. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil and lemon juice or vinegar. Taste and adjust seasonings. Sprinkle with the 'cheese' and additional chopped basil.

Makes 8 one cup servings.
7 minutes high pressure, natural pressure release, 5 minutes stove top

Š2008 Jill Nussinow, MS, RD The Veggie Queen^TM

Jill Nussinow is a Registered Dietitian, culinary educator, cookbook author, speaker and consultant and all around proponent of a plant-based diet. She teaches vegetarian and vegan cooking at Santa Rosa Junior College in California and other places around the US. She has a son who is almost 15. One of her greatest joys is sharing her enthusiasm for vegetables and pressure cooking with anyone who will listen. Her cookbook The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment and her new DVD, Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look, Delicious Dishes in Minutes are both available on her website www.theveggiequeen.com.

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