Soup is easy and pretty fun to make. You can add all kinds of things and have a great time experimenting with different flavors. As a vegetarian, soup is a great way for me to easily fill my dietary needs. I know it sounds silly and boring, but I assure you it is quite the opposite.

Let’s start with how to build a soup. There are different commonly used broths, which each give the soup a different flavor. Some commonly used broths are chicken broth, beef broth, and vegetable broth.

It is important to know that, when making a soup, white onion is your best friend. Without onion, it is very hard to achieve a strong flavor. Red onions are not great for a soup because they tend to taste better in cold dishes, like pasta salad. Shallots can be used as a substitute, but you would need to use multiple shallots for every half a white onion to reach the same amount of flavor.

The next step would be the choice of protein for the soup, such as meat and beans. I do not have much experience with cooking with meat in a soup, but I do know about beans in a soup. There is a big difference between the taste of canned beans and dry beans. Although canned beans are quick, easy, and taste fine, dry beans are hands down the better form of bean. After doing research, I discovered different ways to hydrate beans. The most well-known way is to let the beans soak overnight, but, by doing this, some flavor is lost. So I learned the ‘quick-soak’ method, which I will describe in the soup recipe below.

After selecting protein for the soup, feel free to add whatever vegetables or anything else your heart desires. With vegetables, a variety is always the best way to go. Not only do you get the different healthy advantages of eating said vegetables, but different vegetables give a variety of flavors, textures, and colors. For instance, you would not want to have very tiny diced potato with slices of carrot because this would create a mushy texture that is not always that pleasing to consume. Adding lettuce or kale is a good idea, but make sure to cut it down the large leaves for easier eating.

Spices are the finishing touch and can have a great or catastrophic impact on a soup’s flavor. Matching the protein and vegetables chosen to the correct spices is a good thing to keep in mind. Throwing random spices into the pot hoping for the best does not always work out, so know how the spices you might want to use taste and think about how they may affect the overall flavor of the soup.

Here is a recipe of my own, and feel free to add or subtract anything from it. A soup you make should be to your taste.

Spicy Double Bean Stew

• 2-3 cartons of vegetable broth
• 1 cup of dry pinto beans
• 1 cup of dry kidney beans
• ½ of white onion (diced)
• 1-3 cloves of garlic (diced)
• 1 potato (cubed)
• Carrots (minced) (**I did not measure the specific number, I just put, however, many I felt would be good because I was using baby carrots)
• Cauliflower (sliced) (**Like with the carrots, I just added how much I thought would taste the best)
• 2-4 leaves of lettuce (sliced)
• 1 lime (for juicing to put into stew)
• 4 tablespoons of salsa (pico de gallo)
• 1 tablespoon of Sriracha sauce
• 2 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon of cilantro

Step 1

Grab two pots, one for your beans and another for your soup. Kidney beans and pinto beans cook at the same rate, so it is okay to put them in the same pot. Now it is time to ‘quick-soak’ the beans. In the pot you’ve selected for your beans, add both beans to the pot. Then, add 6 cups of water and bring to a rapid boil. Boil for about 2 minutes. After it is done boiling, remove the pot from heat and let it sit for 1 hour.

Step 2

Just before the beans are done soaking, put the soup pot on medium heat. Next, in your soup pot, add your onion and garlic. After the onions have slightly browned, add 1 carton of vegetable broth. (If you are cooking for 2-4 people, 1 carton should suffice. If you plan on serving more, than add another). Now that it has been an hour, strain your beans and place them into the soup pot, then mix all current ingredients together. Make sure the beans stay submerged in broth at this time.

Step 3

Now, add your cubed potato, carrots, and cauliflower. Lettuce wilts quickly, so add this last. Next, add the chili powder, Sriracha, basil, kosher salt, and cilantro. Make sure everything is mixed together well. Now, add the lime juice and salsa. At this point, the stew should be bubbling slightly. It is important that the beans and everything else remain submerged in broth and that everything is nicely mixed together.

Step 4

Bring the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot. Check the stew in 15-minute intervals. The longer the stew sits, the better it will taste. It is okay while checking it to add small amounts of vegetable broth from the other carton. The stew will seem like it has very little broth while it is in this waiting period. Do not add copious amounts of broth because it will dilute the stew. I normally allow the stew to sit for 35 minutes to 1 hour. After you have decided it has spent enough time sitting, take the pot off the heat. Add small amounts of broth while mixing. Taste it to make sure you do not add too much.

Step 5

After deeming it completed, serve and enjoy!