Awesome Soup# 20 Beans & Greens

Beans & Greens soup

Both the soup recipe and the bread recipe sounded lovely. The photos in the cook books looked good as well so what could go wrong we thought. We wanted this lunch to be really nice as friends Les and Catriona were coming to share  with us. They understand we never know just how these things will turn out but we always like the lunch to be a success when friends come by.

Well the soup was as you would expect . It included bean, onions, carrot , celery and various herbs as well as the leafy greens of spinach and Swiss chard. The only thing that worried Mike was only water was added not stock and it also  didn't seem a long enough cooking time to develop the taste. And he was correct. Apart from the taste of the beans and the veggies it was a very bland and plain tasting soup. Mike gave it a 7 and I gave it a 6. Our friends were super  diplomatic but agreed really not very tasty. Mike says IF he makes it again he will use beef or vegetable stock and cook longer and see if that improves the taste.

I had made sun dried tomato and rosemary bread. Doesn't it just make you have visions of a perfect Tuscany scene? The bread rose well but during the baking  sunk just a little but the outside was crispy  and the aroma just wonderful. It tasted really nice . it was just about the right texture. I served it with with  two dipping sauces ; one was a gift from Sally, a very spicy garlic oil sauce, the other,  olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The garlic dip was one, I find really hot. It just burns the inside of your mouth. I keep well away from that  but Les thought it  was actually mild ( but then he is a true Texan and I am not). The bread and the dip as they were quite flavorful certainly helped the soup .
I'd also made a fresh apple pie which served with ice cream finished off the meal well. As usual we chatted about so many things as you do with old friends; cars and driving schools , retirement and travelling and of course cooking and soup.

Our soup days are drawing to a close. Soon it will be too hot to enjoy a hot soup and so we 
now need to figure out what our next project will be.
Keep in touch.