Soups On !!.....Greek Traditional Fasolada

 

      Boy is it really cold outside! perfect time for some soup! You know all those beans we're supposed to be stocking up on? Well I only know how to make black bean chili and pinto beans and ham..... both are good but you can get tired of that and in a emergency situation the meat may not be available.
   So I went on Wikipedia looking for information about bean varieties, mixes and recipes. They had a page on bean soups https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Bean_soups
 Fasoulada or sometimes Fasolia is a Greek, Mediterranean, and Cypriot soup of dry white beans, olive oil, and vegetables. It is sometimes called the "national food of the Greeks".
    Fasolada is made by simmering beans with tomatoes and other vegetables such as carrots, onion, parsley, celery, and bay leaf. Lima beans are sometimes used instead of white beans. Recipes vary considerably, often including meat.

It is often enriched with olive oil either in the kitchen or on the table

I went to this site https://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/traditional-greek-bean-soup-recipe-fasolada/
They had a recipe there and the reviews had good comments about the authenticity of the recipe so I said why not?!

These are the Ingredients
    500g dry white beans (18 ounces)
    3–4 carrots, finely chopped
    1 large white onion, finely chopped (if you love onions, add one more!)
    3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
    130ml extra virgin olive oil (1/2 cup)
    2 tbsps tomato paste
    a pinch of paprika (hot or sweet, according to preferance)
    salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste (min 2 flat teaspoons each)

    I had extra carrots and celery around so tossed that into the pot. I didn't want to open up a whole can of tomato paste for just a couple of spoonfuls so I used twice the amount in catsup. Other than that pretty much went by the directions.
    Wellllll.....I gave it a shot. It was very very plain. So I tried another countries recipe. I can see how this would be a good economic recipe for folks that don't have a lot of money but still be nutritious.
    I tried adding goodies to it. More catsup, a clove of garlic, chicken bouillon, more salt..... It was still pretty darn plain for my taste buds. Nikki liked the soup. Hubby said it has carrots forget it! I ate it anyway because hubby was having beef that I can't eat and it was food.
So what have I learned?
   In a really bad situation like a storm coming through or being out of work with no money ,whatever and you have to rely on your preps you better have some good spices around to give your food some zip! I can't do spices put if you can you really need to have some handy for those dishes that seem plain to you. Here are some ideas.

  

 They also have other soup recipes someone may want to try here...
https://www.mygreekdish.com/category/collections/traditional-greek-soup-recipes/

  Every now and then I'm going to try to do some new recipes with the beans and rice we are supposed to stock up on and will share with you.

 
Love
Ranchmama