rainy days call for soup and bread

 This was the sight that greeted me when I opened the garage door today.

  Rain and wet leaves everywhere.

So I spent part of the afternoon making a pot of Mexican White Bean soup

and cornbread with honey butter.

It was delicious and perfect for dinner on a damp, cool evening.

Sorry I can't give appropriate credit for the original publisher of this recipe. I recently cut it out of a magazine, but I don't remember which one!

MEXICAN WHITE BEAN SOUP 

 8 oz. dried navy beans (1 1/4 c.)

1 lg. onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 med. carrots, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 - 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 14-1/2 oz. can vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 orange

1 c. salsa verde

{Light dairy sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)}

{Fresh cilantro}

{Cayenne pepper}

Rinse beans. In a 4-5 quart Dutch oven combine beans & 6 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover & let stand 1 hour. Drain; rinse beans.

In the Dutch oven cook onion, celery, carrots, & garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in cumin, salt, & cayenne pepper. Add broth, beans, & 2 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until beans are tender.

Using a handheld immersion blender, blend mixture slightly. (Or let soup cool slightly. Transfer mixture, one-third at a time, to a blender. Cover; blend slightly. Return to Dutch oven.) Finely shred 1 tsp. peel from the orange, then juice the orange. Stir orange juice, peel, & salsa verde into soup; heat through. Top with sour cream, if desired, cilantro, & a dash of cayenne. Makes 6 servings.

(Each serv: 203 cal, 4 g fat, 653 mg sodium, 34 g carb, 12 g fiber, 10 g pro.)

I found the cornbread recipe on Pinterest, which linked me to this blog with the recipe:

http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2010/09/corn-bread-with-honey-butter/

The cornbread was fluffy and slightly sweet and the honey butter

 only heightened the satisfaction level. :-)

 

Cheers and good eats, everyone!