Totally Mixed-Up Beans Soup

I really could go for a good "cow foot soup" today, with yam, dumplings and green bananas but hold on the cow's foot please.  But since I don't have any of those items in my pantry, I will settle for a mixed bean soup instead, with any leftovers I can find in my  refrigerator.  Fortunately I found a 17 bean & barley mix that I recently brought from Trader's Joe's and thought to improvise as I went along.  Of course if you don't have this at home, you can create your own mixed beans by adding 1/2 cup to 1 cup each of pinto beans, white beans, split peas, green peas, kidney beans, garbanzo beans or pretty much any beans you have.  You may want to throw in 1/2 cup of barley or even brown rice.  I have actually made this mixture of  bean on many occasions, but each time I make it, it comes out differently depending on my mood or what vegetables I have in the house at the time.  So here is my recipe today and you tell me what kind of mood I'm in.

Make sure to soak beans overnight.

Ingredients:
3 cups of  Water
1 pack of mixed beans
1 can stewed tomatoes (no salt)
2 large Red/Orange bell peppers (chopped in small pieces)
2 Carrots (I used frozen because I forgot I had fresh ones)
1 bulb fennel (That's what I had - but cauliflower, spinach etc can be used)
Pinch of Salt (Add to your taste- I am always accused of not adding enough salt to my food)
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Black pepper
1 tsp Coconut Oil
1/3 cup Coconut Milk

After soaking the beans overnight for at least eight hours, be sure to rinse it a few times before cooking.  Add the water and the beans and boil for a good one hour on medium heat.  Stir often so that the beans don't stick to the bottom.  Check to see if the beans are soft by squeezing it. If they are still hard, then continue boiling until soft.

Once the beans are soft, then add the can of stewed tomato sauce, salt, black & cayenne pepper,  Let everything stew for about 30 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken.  If it is too thick then add a little water and stir.

Now add in the coconut oil, coconut milk, carrots, red & green bell peppers, and any left over you have.  I actually threw in a few strands of spaghetti that I had for dinner a few days ago.  In the past I have added rice, quinoa and baked sweet potatoes etc.. But improvise and you will see that the soup will take on a life of its own. 


Well, well, well, talk about filling and delicious.  While some of the beans melted and others didn't, the flavors really came together nicely.  To top it off, I sprinkled avocado on top and that was an absolutely  perfect filling meal for the entire family.

HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT TYPE OF MOOD I AM IN YET?