Great Northern Bean Stew
In a stockpot, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat. Keep it chunky. Add the onions and let saute until translucent. Turn down heat to medium.
Whisk tomato paste into 4 cups water until smooth. Add to pot. Add beans and all remaining ingredients to pot (except additional water). Let come to a boil, then turn down heat to low. Let simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add more water to desired thickness.
Serve with whole-grain bread or over brown rice.
Great Northern Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef
- 2 small red onions diced
- 4 cups Great Northern beans cooked
- 4 to 6 cups pure water
- 1 6- ounce can tomato paste
- 2 to 3 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
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In a stockpot, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat.
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Keep it chunky.
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Add the onions and let saute until translucent.
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Turn down heat to medium.
-
Whisk tomato paste into 4 cups water until smooth.
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Add to pot.
-
Add beans and all remaining ingredients to pot (except additional water).
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Let come to a boil, then turn down heat to low.
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Let simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.
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Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary.
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Add more water to desired thickness.
© Copyright 2008 by Wardee Harmon
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Looks delicious, I love great northern beans.I just bought nutritional yeast for the first time (red star brand) I was just wondering what brand you use. In the NT book is says some have msg because of the way they process it. Now I’m not sure if what I bought is good. Also, do you use nutritional yeast only for savory dishes or do you ever use it in sweet foods? thanks
love, tiffany
I don’t know what my brand is, only that I buy it in bulk from Azure. Hmm… I wonder if mine has MSG in it? I do know that processing creates MSG in foods, but I never thought about my nutritional yeast. I haven’t ever used it in sweet dishes, just in soups and sauces and with noodles for the cheezy, creamy texture. Jeff says it looks like fish food (going in)! But we all love the flavor. I’ll be curious how you and your family like it.
Nutritional yeast products do not have any added monosodium glutamate; however, all inactive yeast contains a certain amount of free glutamic acid because when the yeast cells are killed, the protein that comprises the cell walls begins to degrade, breaking down into the amino acids that originally formed it. Glutamic acid is a naturally occurring amino acid in all yeast cells, as well as in many vegetables, fungi and meats. From Wikapedia.
Recipie looks great! I printed a copy and plan to try it soon!
Hi Wardee,
I just want to tell you how much I’m loving the e course! Your doing a great job and I feel really blessed to have found your blog. I’ve been practicing Nourishing Traditions for about 3 years and have been feeling overwhelmed. The e course is giving me the confidence I need to cook tasty wholesome food for my family. Thank you so much.
God Bless you and your family!
Melissa Lucaj
Melissa – Oh, that makes me happy! Thanks for blessing my day. I feel so fortunate to be able to work with wonderful people like you!
Hi Wardee~
I am so enjoying your ecourse and learning so much. Having started eatting more whole/ unprocessed foods since January, I feel there is so much to learn and I appreciate the multiple avenues your course provides with videos, written material, reading the forum comments, etc. It’s been nice to catch up over spring break (almost 4 lessons behind – yikes!!)
I’m planning to make this soup recipe upon returning home and want to make sure I have this right. First, I would want to find dried great northern beans (is this possible? I’m going to WF in a few days). Then, I would soak about 2 cups beans, 2 T acid and about 6 cups of water as described. Soak, rinse, cook and then follow the recipe. Is that right??
Thanks!
~Sheri
Sheri – That’s exactly right! But w/ 2 cups dried beans, you’ll probably get between 5 and 6 cups of cooked beans. You can use them all in the stew, just add more seasonings if necessary.
You should be able to find the Great Northern beans at Whole Foods. These are some of my favorite beans – so yummy!
Here’s an update on the nutritional yeast question from Tiffany, above:
https://traditionalcookingschool.com/2009/04/06/nutritional-yeast/
I made this exactly as written. This recipe is wonderful! It was my first time using canned great northern beans and also nutritional yeast. I used 2 pounds of ground beef and liked the proportions of meat to beans. I drained the grease from the beef after browning before adding the onions. I used all 6 cups of water.
I was worried it would be bland, because it’s so simple, but it is not. The flavor is amazing. Thanks for posting. I’ll be making this one again.