Bean pastrami protein soup is a classic bean soup enriched with delicious ingredients like pastrami and Padron peppers. It’s a wonderful and creative new take, easy to make with canned beans or with dry beans, too. Thanks to the meat and beans, this soup is hearty and warming and full of proteins, fibre and flavours.
There’s nothing better than a bowl of hot delicious soup on a winter day. This soup is rich in protein. That’s exactly what your body needs, in order to help repair cells and to make new ones. Include more beans in your diet for balanced nutrition, to grow up healthy and to stay healthy, too. One hundred grams of beans consists of 21 grams of protein, which is more than half of your daily body necessities. Way to go beans!
I love beans. And, it takes 2 seconds to open a can of beans. However, I’ve become a fan of dry beans. The cutest ones are the black-eyed peas. It takes a bit longer to cook them but the flavour is more intense. Or is it just me? Well. I am not saying the canned beans are not good. Nope, not at all. They are good. In fact when I run out of dry ones I use canned beans, particularly kidney beans or baked beans. They are my favourite. Wink.
Other food with protein
Besides beans, you can find proteins also in other legumes, such as lentils, chickpeas, peas and peanuts. Add them to soups, salads, stews or any other dish, to make your diet rich and healthy.
To make a protein-rich meal is so darn simple. Check these delicious recipes for some inspiration: protein chicken rice soup, quinoa-bean patties, chicken black-eyed peas soup, red lentil chili, beetroot beluga lentil burgers, baked beetroot falafel, peanut butter-crust chicken, beluga lentil-shrimp soup or the beef black-eyed peas stew. Mmm, simply delicious.
What about pastrami? Do you like it? Since I’ve had it in New York, I am in love with it. Even though I will never find pastrami like that again, I still create recipes with it. By the way, you simply have to check this Pastrami New York sandwich. What a beauty! Wink.
Pastrami (or any other kind of cured meat, if you ask me) gives that extra note to the dish, along with peppers. Padron peppers are small, yet when cooked they have this sweet, nutty flavour. Yummy. Their flavour is so addictive. In fact, I could eat them all the time, simply charred and sprinkled with salt. Delicious.
Ingredients for 4 portions of bean pastrami protein soup:
- olive oil
- 1 red onion (diced)
- 1 bell pepper (diced)
- 8 Padron peppers (diced)
- 2 garlic cloves (grated or sliced)
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 200 g black beans (or any other beans)
- 400 ml diced tomatoes (from a can)
- 3 Tbsp of sweet corn
- fresh coriander (chopped)
- juice from one lime
- 200 g pastrami slices (cut into strips)
- red hot chili pepper (optional, garnish)
- tortilla chips (garnish)
To begin, peel and chop the onion and garlic, wash and cube/dice the bell-pepper and Padron peppers (by keeping a couple for garnish). Second, in a food processor combine half of the beans and half of the chicken stock. Blend until smooth.
Then, drizzle some olive oil in a large saucepan and once it gets warm, add the onions. Sautee them until soft and glossy. At this point, stir in the blended beans, the rest of the beans, peppers, garlic, diced tomatoes, sweet corn and the remaining chicken stock.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, slice the pastrami into strips and, in a small pan, “fry” the remaining whole Padron peppers until wrinkled and charred.
Furthermore, add the chopped fresh coriander, two-thirds of pastrami and lime juice to the soup. Season with some salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 more minutes.
Finally, serve the bean pastrami protein soup hot with a garnish of remaining pastrami and charred Padron peppers. For an extra kick, serve it with some fresh red hot chili pepper and some crispy tortilla chips next to it.
Enjoy!
