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Traditional Greek Bean Soup
(Fasolada)
by
Dr Antigone Kouris-Blazos
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Serves
6-8
Tips:
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This
recipe is very easy but it takes a couple
of hours of simmering on the stove till
it is cooked; try cooking it the night
before - it keeps well in the fridge
for 1-2 days, alternatively you can
freeze it.
This soup is also nutritional value
for money - it is an excellent meat
alternative and you will feed an entire
family or group of people for well under
$10. |
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Most
of us purchase herbs like oregano in
little packets from the supermarket.
If you live near a Greek or Turkish
deli, purchase dried herbs which are
packaged with their stalks - these herbs
tend to be fresher, higher in antioxidants
and have a much nicer and stronger flavour.
Remove dry leaves from the stalks (you
may like to put the leaves (not the
stalks!) in a blender to cut them finely)
and place in a sealed jar. Trust me
- you will notice the difference - the
dish will taste much better! |
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Add
iodised salt to dishes instead of un-iodised
salt because there is emerging evidence
in Australia that our intake of iodine
is probably too low. |
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From
my experience, imported haricot beans
from Greece or Turkey have a 'thinner'
skin and are therefore not tough after
cooking. Haricot beans that are slightly
yellow in colour are older and tougher
- the whiter the better and fresher.
If the haricot beans are tough, adding
a little sugar to the soup will soften
them. |
Ingredients
1
cup haricot beans soaked in 3 cups water
(adding salt will toughen beans)
2.5 litres cold water
3 celery sticks + leaves, finely chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large zucchini, finely chopped
250 ml tomato puree
1/2 red capsicum, finely chopped
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed.
2 massel vegetable stock cubes and black
pepper
iodised salt (end of cooking, according
to taste)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (end of cooking)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (end of cooking)
Accompaniments:
bread, olives, fetta, sardines, wine
Method
- Soak beans overnight in 3 cups water.
Rinse beans after soaking (do not re-use
the soaking water)
- Place beans in 2.5 litres of cold water
and put on low heat on stove and simmer.
- Chop all vegetables.
- Add celery, carrot, onion, zucchini,
capsicum, cabbage to pot.
- Simmer soup for 30 minutes then add
tomato, parsley, garlic, pepper and stock
cubes (tomato and stock cubes are added
towards the end of cooking because these
tend to 'toughen' the beans)
- Simmer for a further 2 hours or until
beans are tender.
- Add olive oil and oregano at end of
cooking to the pot (this will retain the
antioxidants) OR drizzle olive oil on
the surface of the soup once served in
bowls (this is the traditional Greek way
to serve the soup). You may wish to add
some iodised salt at this point.
- If soup is too chunky (e.g. for your
kids) or too "watery" use a
hand blender to blend the soup for a couple
of seconds to thicken it.
- Serve with wholegrain toasted bread.
For an absolutely complete meal accompany
soup with olives, fetta (try reduced fat
fetta), sardines and a glass of wine.
How many times a week should I have
legume dishes?
At least one legume dish a week is desirable.
This recommendation is based on the frequency
of intake of long-lived populations in
the Mediterranean and in Asia. More than
this weekly frequency is recommended for
vegetarians or for people who avoid red
meat. Legumes/soy are a 'meat alternative'
- this means that when you have, for example,
baked beans on toast, it counts as a 'serving
of red meat'.
See also the
HEC Healthy Eating Pyramid
A
study publsihed in 2001 showed that eating
beans a few times a week can help to reduce
heart disease risk. The study showed that
the more beans you eat the less likely you
are to get heart disease.Read
more...
Last
Updated: November 22, 2001.
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