Parenting blogger Caroline from Diary of a Mum of 3 tried out a recipe for a very autumnal spicy chilli bean soup.
This week we received our first magazine from magazine.co.uk, the amazing BBC Good Food magazine. I was so excited to read through it, because although I enjoy cooking, I’m not very creative and usually a little nervous to try something new, so I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.
On the cover of this month’s magazine was a delicious looking fig raspberry and cardamom pie with very pretty pastry. Inside the magazine there are three different fruit pie recipes and a selection of pastry methods to make your pie look amazing. I will certainly be having a go at making a couple over the coming weeks.
For this week’s new make though I stuck to a rather simple soup. I am really feeling the colder weather this week. I think we can well and truly wave goodbye to our flip flops until next year, but one thing that I do love about winter is comfort food. You can’t beat a nice soup or a hearty casserole!
When I saw the soups in the magazine I knew I wanted to try one straight away and my eyes were instantly drawn to the spicy chilli bean soup. The recipe states it costs 61p per serving which is great for a big family like ours, and with a 10 minute preparation time and 40 minute cooking time it was perfect for us to have for a warming lunch.
I went through the cupboards and I had most of the ingredients in already, so I popped out to buy the other couple of things that I had run out of and got back in time for lunch.
To make the spicy chilli bean soup you will need:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1tsp mild chilli powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 400g can of chopped tomatoes
- 500ml/19fl oz vegetable stock
- 400g can of mixed beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 red pepper, cut into chunks
To prepare:
- Start by heating the oil and frying the chopped onion over a medium heat until tender, add the garlic and tomato purée, and stir for 1-2 minutes until combined. Sprinkle in the spices and cook for another minute.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, and half fill the can with water and add to the pan. Pour over the stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes uncovered. Season to preference and blend with a hand blender.
- Pour in the red peppers and mixed beans and simmer for another 15 minutes until the pepper is tender.
The recipe calls for you to serve with tortilla chips and wedges of lime, but I am a soup and bread kind of girl so I served mine with some tiger bread rolls.
It was delicious, the children loved it, and even my husband who isn’t a big soup fan enjoyed a big bowl for his lunch. When I make it again I would probably whizz it in the blender after adding the beans, as that was the only complaint, and to be honest I’m not a huge fan of the texture of beans.
It is definitely something that will be making a regular appearance in our house over the winter months.
I am looking forward to receiving my next issue to find more hints and tips, I already feel like it will improve my cooking and give me some much needed inspiration.
If you are also after inspiration in the kitchen, why not subscribe to BBC Good Food magazine today?
