Soup is easy to make in bulk, can offer good fiber boost too

A popular meal at my house is soup. It’s easy to make in large quantities and ensures there are always leftovers to freeze for future lunches. This makes my life a lot easier during my busy work week. Needless to say, I make a lot of soup.

I have been looking recently to expand my soup making horizons to find a recipe that packs a bigger fiber punch by incorporating beans. I found one using lima beans and leeks that I adapted to appeal to my family’s love of potato leek soup.

The use of an emersion blender (a hand-held blender you submerge to blend directly in a pan) is the key to this recipe. It smoothly blends ingredients in to a rich, creamy base that is very potato-like. That was the selling point for my kids. The soup didn’t look like it had beans in it.

I will admit my kids don’t love this recipe nearly as much as my usual potato-based soup, but they said it tastes OK and they eat it. That’s a big success in my book. The fiber content of this lima bean leek soup is significantly higher and, it has a lower carbohydrate count than its potato counterpart.

Here’s the recipe in case you want to see if it will appeal to your family’s taste buds.

LIMA BEAN AND LEEK SOUP

4-5 bacon slices (cubed ham also offers a nice flavor if you don’t have bacon)
2 large leeks, chopped
4 cups fresh baby lima beans (parboiled or soaked overnight)
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon until crisp and remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings. Crumble bacon and set aside.

Add leeks to drippings in pan and cook until tender.

Stir in beans, broth, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until beans are tender.

Use an emersion blender and blend mixture in pan until smooth. Or, pour half the mixture at a time in a blender to blend.

Ladle in to bowls (or single serving freezer containers) and add a small handful of bacon crumbles to each.