Dutch Food: Bruine Bonensoep

With only my Dutch lessons, social calendar, and volunteer work to keep me occupied, I've been devoting a lot of time to cooking and learning how to make typical Dutch foods.

This week, I would like to share a recipe for bruine bonensoep (brown bean soup).  It's a hearty soup that's extremely easy to make. It requires only minimal preparation, then you can literally throw it in a pot to simmer and forget about it for an hour.

Bruinebonensoep

Most recipes for brown bean soup include some combination of butter and/or pieces of bacon (spekjes), but these are easily left out or substituted, and you still get a very flavorful soup.  I was able to create a vegan soup after adapting several recipes that I found on the Internet.

The raw ingredients: soaked brown beans

...and lots of chopped veggies

Vegan Bruine Bonensoep
(makes 4 servings)
Ingredients:
200 grams (1 cup) of dried Swedish brown beans, soaked overnight and cooked for 1 hour (or 2 cups of canned beans, rinsed)
750 ml (3 cups) of water
15 ml (1 Tbsp) vegetable oil
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 small leek, sliced
1 large carrot, diced
1 medium onion, diced
45 ml (3 Tbsp) tomato paste
15 ml (1 Tbsp) curry powder
15 ml (1 Tbsp) dried basil
2 dried bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
optional: 1/2 cup seitan (wheat gluten) diced small
Instructions:
In a large stockpot, sautée the seitan (if using) in vegetable oil over medium heat.  When the seitan has browned (or if not using the seitan), add the onion and leek to the hot oil with the curry powder and sautée for about 3 to 5 more minutes until the onions are slightly translucent.  Add the water and vegetable bouillon, and cook over medium-high heat until the bouillon is dissolved.  Then, add the beans, carrot, tomato paste, basil, and bay leaves. Mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for one hour.  Remove from heat, add salt and pepper.  Remove bay leaves before serving.