15-Bean and Greens Soup

It’s cold, and my cupboard is almost bare. But last night in the back of the shelf, I found a bag of a mix of 15 kinds of beans for soup (1 lb 4 ozs). I rinsed them in a colander, and soaked them overnight in a large pot, maybe an inch and a half of water above the level of the beans. I had some collard greens that had been in the fridge a couple weeks at least. They looked wilted, but most of them were still clean, no mold or anything. A large yellow onion. Some salt. So, I made soup today.

After the beans soaked overnight, I added more water, enough to make an inch above the beans. I chopped 2/3 of the onion and threw that in. Added a teaspoon and a half of sea salt. Maybe half of a teaspoon of dried red pepper, like you put on pizza. I put the soup on medium heat, and while it was slowly coming to a boil, I carefully washed each collard leaf, removed the tough stem, and tore the rest into small pieces, approximately two inches by one inch. I added them to the soup, and put it on simmer, stirring occasionally. I added a half cup of water a couple of times. About two and a half hours later, I had soup.

I was out of crackers, but there was a box of Heart-Smart Bisquick. It’s easy to make drop biscuits. Just pour a little skim milk into some of the mix. Stir it into a dough a little moister than Play-doh. Put a heaping tablespoon for each biscuit onto an ungreased baking pan. Bake at 450 F until brown.

The first spoonful of the soup was heavenly. I was surprised something quite so nutritious could be so delicious.