Baked Bean Soup

Healthy, filling, a unique taste, easy to make - what more can you ask for in a weeknight meal? I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, maybe because of the molasses or the vinegar (which made it slightly tangy). But when I added lots of pepper (which I don't usually do) it made it quite tasty. The pepper really complemented the flavours in the soup. And some grated Gruyere on top, yum even better.

I'm submitting this to the Cooking to Combat Cancer 2 event. This soup has a few cancer fighting ingredients: onions, tomatoes, carrots, and beans. I think we could all use some cancer fighting power so I try to eat lots of good, healthy, cancer fighting foods! Other cancer fighting foods include berries, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage), flax, garlic, whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, green tea, soy (in moderation), red grapes, avocados (my favourite!), chili peppers, grapefruit, mushrooms, nuts, oranges, and lemons (source, source - found through Mele Cotte). With so many choices, I'm sure everyone can easily add some more of these foods into their diet.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili
Corn Chowder

Baked Bean Soup
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special

Serves 4 to 6

2 cups chopped onions
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup peeled and diced carrots
1 tbsp chili powder
3 tsp Dijon mustard*
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups (14 oz can) undrained canned stewed tomatoes
1 2/3 cups (15 1/2 oz can) cooked kidney beans**
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt & pepper to taste

In a soup pot on medium-high heat, saute the onions in oil for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the celery, carrots, and chili powder and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, water, tomatoes, beans, vinegar, molasses, and soy sauce. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and gently simmer for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

*Reduce this amount if you're not a big mustard fan. I love mustard so I might add more next time.
**The recipe suggests white beans, but I think any bean would be fine.

Note: Feel free to play around with the amount of mustard, molasses, vinegar and soy sauce to suit your taste. I think sweet potato would be tasty in this soup too.