Quinoa Corn Chowder with Baby Lima Beans

I have been reading other VeganMoFoers posts this month and I am thoroughly impressed. Lots of people have themes, or an outline for specific days of the week… 31 days of unique spices. A month devoted to orange food! Or 1 food, done 5 ways x5 (cashews and kale so far!). Recipes with ingredients following the alphabet. Me, I just want to be able to post every day.

Then I thought.. 1 week in, a bit late on the theme-front, why not showcase my love of beans. So I will share with you bean dishes for the rest of the month. Get ready for your daily dose of bean! 🙂

Lately, I have been on a white bean kick. Baby lima beans, giant lima beans, flageolet beans, bring them on! Ashley thought it was amusing that my bean collection had so many of the same white beans in different containers.

Look closely, and while they are all white beans, they are definitely not the same!

While I also don’t mix different batches of beans, since they may cook at different lengths of time, all my white beans are different.  In fact, I don’t have any more lima beans left and only a handful of dried flageolet beans. What I have left are Great Northern beans, white kidney beans, navy beans, Macedonian tetrovac beans and Turkish dermason beans. I am so curious as to how the latter two taste but still fall into the simplicity of the familiar!

I feel so naked now that I am out of lima beans. I used the last of the baby lima beans in this delicious quinoa corn chowder from Viva Vegan. The small, plump yet creamy baby lima beans melded well into this perfect end of summer stew-like corn chowder. Light, yet creamy with a dash of soy milk, a bit of zip from chili flakes, sweetness from the fresh corn and hearty with both the quinoa and lima beans.

It wasn’t even 6 months ago that I likely would have shunned lima beans based on my childhood disdain, but I am so glad that I made the leap to try something new. If you haven’t yet tried cooking up your own lima beans, definitely give it a go. You may never look back!

I hope my white kidney beans don’t get shunned too long… they are just so unsexy compared to its other white bean counterparts. I wonder if the dermason beans will be just as good as the lima beans? 😉

Thankfully, because if not, my pantry-substitute, Better Bulk, has baby lima beans, so the next time I have a hankering, they are right around the corner. 🙂

This is being submitted to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Cinzia from Cindystar.

Quinoa Corn Chowder with Baby Lima Beans

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/2 tsp Aleppo chili flakes, or to taste (this was not spicy at all)
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 pound waxy red potatoes (ie New potatoes) – around 4 small ones, cleaned and cut in small dice
2-3 cups corn kernels
1.5 cups cooked baby lima beans, drained and rinsed if canned
4 cups water or vegetable broth
2 plum tomatoes, chopped in small dice
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or dairy substitute of choice)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

cilantro/basil/parsley for garnish
avocado for garnish
chopped peanuts for garnish
chopped green onion for garnish

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, around 30 seconds. Add the onion and saute until translucent and soft, around 6-8 minutes. Add quinoa and stir occasionally, toasting it for 3-4 minutes, or until it turns golden.

2. Add the chili flakes, oregano, basil, cumin, and paprika and fry for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.

3. Add potatoes, corn, lima beans and water/broth. Cover, increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender and the quinoa is cooked.

4. Stir in the tomatoes, milk, vinegar and salt, partially covered and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add water to maintain your desired consistency. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

5. Cover soup and let it rest 15 minutes prior to serving, to allow the flavours to meld. Top with garnishes just prior to serving, although I preferred it unadorned.

Serves 4-6.