Pepa's Lucky Three-Bean, Four-Alarm, Five-Star Vegetable Soup

In my second book, Ain’t That Love, I promised to post my recipe for what I refer to in the book as “Pepa’s Three-Bean, Four-Alarm, Five-Star Lucky Soup”. But first let me unpack the title for you:

So, “Pepa” originally was what my kids called my Dad (their grandfather), but I’m trying the name on for size myself for when my kids start having kids of their own (I can’t wait!).“Three-Bean” is pretty self-explanatory and refers to the healthy assortment of beans I happened to have on hand that day, as I talk about in the book.

“Four-Alarm” is attributable to the can of Rotella diced tomatoes I grabbed at the grocery store, not knowing it was jam-packed full of Habanero peppers (not sure how I missed that large red banner screaming “HOT” at the top of the can). But no need to worry if you’re like me and don’t prefer hot or spicy foods. I found that if you sample the soup early on in the cooking process, it packs a lot heat, but trust me, it mellows out with time as the other ingredients start to kick in.

“Five-Star” is what my wife gave it on a scale of 1 to 5, which still boggles my mind to this day, considering I don’t cook.

“Lucky” refers to the fact, as mentioned in the

book, that almost every ingredient I used was an accident, yet the end result is what you might call a “happy accident”.

Finally, even though I broke down and added Italian sausage, it really is a very healthy and hearty “Vegetable Soup”.

Hope you enjoy!

Recipe for “Pepa’s Lucky Three-Bean, Four-Alarm, Five-Star Vegetable Soup”

To 5-quart crock pot, add the following canned vegetables without draining:

1 can cut green beans

1 can garbanzo (or chic) peas

1 can pureed cannellini beans (I used a blender)

1 can Rotella diced tomatoes with habaneros

1 can cut sweet potatoes

To the mixture above, add:

32 oz box of chicken broth – low sodium

2 cups frozen cut okra

Add the following fresh vegetables, diced:

2 celery stalks

2 carrots

1 yellow onion

Finally, an hour or so before serving, add:

1 pound ground Italian sausage – mild

1 can French onion soup

½ cup “quick cook” barley (pre-cook in small pot, then add to crockpot)

Simmer on high for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy!