Escaping the Dining Hall: Beth’s Cheap and Easy White Bean Soup Recipe

Hi! My name is Beth and Michael has invited me to tell you a little bit about how I avoid the dining hall by cooking for myself on an insanely low budget.

I'm not a huge fan of Stimson and I've purchased the 100-meal plan, so I eat a lot of my meals in my room. I used to live mostly off of frozen food and cans of soup, but that can get pretty expensive. It's also not very healthy. I bought a small rice cooker this semester and I've been cooking almost all my non-dining hall meals now. It’s much easier and tons more fun than you’d think!

Here's the recipe for white bean soup that I made Saturday night:

• olive oil
• some onion
• one clove garlic
• carrots
• celery
• one medium potato (all purpose)
• spinach
• one can white beans
• a few tablespoons of tomato sauce
• whatever seasonings you want!

Place the olive oil, onions, and the garlic (minced) in the rice cooker and set it to "cook.” While the onions and garlic are sauteing, chop the vegetables. After the onions and garlic have browned you may want to add water and start mixing in the vegetables (all except the spinach). Then add the beans, tomato sauce, and whatever spices you have around. Salt and pepper will work fine if that's all you have around. If the rice cooker switches to "keep warm" simply switch it back to the “cook” setting. Keep the soup covered until the vegetables are soft. Add the spinach a couple minutes before you turn off the heat.

This recipe is extremely versatile and costs less than 2 bucks to make. Throw in whatever veggies you have and it should turn out fine. It's also really thick. If you want a thinner soup use fewer beans and less potato. If you don't get to the grocery store often enough to justify buying perishable vegetables, you can find a lot of veggies at the salad bar in Pearlstone Cafe. I’m sure you can find salt and pepper there as well.

Lookout for my next post where I'll talk more about my rice cooker and how awesome it is!

Yours Truly,
Beth :)