15 Bean Soup

A vacation meal reminded me of this tasty soup – and this one is a $5 dinner!

On a recent vacation in Mexico, we had dinner in a local restaurant and tasted a fabulous Mexican bean soup.
My husband reminded me of a bean soup I had made a long time ago, so I thought I would dig out the recipe and make it again. This soup is a combination of many different kinds of beans - lentils, limas, small white beans, red kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, navy beans, split peas and more! They all come together in one package and you may see variations for example, 12 bean soup or 13 bean soup... any of these will work for this recipe. It takes several hours so plan ahead, but it is very simple to make and a great dinner for a crisp fall night.
Five thumbs up from my clan... hope you enjoy!

What You Need
From the Store:
(Prices sourced from ShopRite.com)
1 20 ounce package of dry mixed beans $2.19
1 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano $1.49
1/2 large onion diced $0.25
2 carrots diced $0.40
Total $ 4.33

From Your Pantry:
2 stalks of celery (with leaves) cut up
1 bay leaf
(Use a few shakes of all of the following dried spices)
Minced onion
Thyme
Marjoram
Garlic Powder
Crushed red pepper (optional)
Salt and black pepper

What to Do
Rinse the beans and put them in a large pot with 3 cups of water.
Cover and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and let them soak for 1 hour.
Drain the soaking water and rinse the beans.
Add 8 cups of water, the spices and stewed tomatoes and bring to boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours or until the beans are tender.
Uncover and increase the heat to medium low and boil gently for 45 - 60 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and serve with crusty bread and a salad.