A Staple of French Cooking

Mirepoix, (pronounced meer-PWAH) is a simple, homey vegetable base that plays an essential role in the aroma and flavoring of soups, stews, casseroles and more. A staple of French cooking, it’s a classic way to begin a recipe — by slowly sautéing a combination of onions, celery, and carrots in butter or oil until soft, fragrant, and translucent.

Playing A Key Supporting Role

Named in the 18th-century after the duke, Charles Pierre Gaston François de Lévis, or Duc de Mirepoix, a French general and diplomat, the generally accepted ratio of ingredients is 2:1:1 (two parts onions, one part celery, and one part carrots). However, there’s no need for today’s home cooks to be precious about it; it’s best to think of mirepoix as playing a supporting role in a great dish, as it helps the main ingredients to shine.

Cousin to the Holy Trinity

In fact, most of the world’s cuisines start with a common vegetable base that brings out the flavor of their iconic dishes. Creole and Cajun cuisines are no different, benefiting from their own variation. Interestingly, early French settlers in the Louisiana Territory brought their culinary customs with them, but there were no carrots in their swampy new home. So they substituted bell peppers for carrots, creating the Holy Trinity.

Usage Tips

A few usage tips when making mirepoix: in general, the finer you chop the vegetables, the quicker the aroma and flavors will be released. And if you’d like to prep for future use, go right ahead. Pre-chopped, frozen batches of mirepoix can be used easily in your favorite bean dishes.

At the base of many Cajun and Creole favorites is a simple foundation of gently sautéed vegetables. In fact, it’s step one in rustic, family-style recipes for gumbo, étouffée, jambalaya, and of course, red beans and rice.

The three essential vegetables in this foundation are onions, celery and green bell pepper, and because Louisiana is predominantly Catholic, the Holy Trinity, or the Trinity for short, took hold as its moniker. In fact, Chef Paul Prudhomme was the celebrity chef who popularized not only Cajun cuisine, but the use of the Trinity as well. Now, from home cooks to chefs, everyone agrees that deliciousness flows from this universal starter, providing a savory base for other ingredients to build upon.

The ratio is traditionally three parts onions to two parts celery to one part bell pepper, but some prefer equal amounts of each, and others take a shortcut by using a container of pre-chopped Trinity readily available in grocery stores. For those who cook red beans religiously every week, chopping the Trinity and sautéing it in butter, oil, or fat leftover from browning sausage or seasoning meat, creates an aroma and basis that practically ensures red bean success.

The heat from sautéing breaks down the flavorful vegetables, releasing their trapped liquids onto the hot surface of the skillet or dutch oven. An intense flavor develops as the water evaporates, leaving behind residual sugars that caramelize the vegetables until a desirable richness is achieved. Similar to the idea behind French mirepoix and Spanish & Latin American sofrito, the Holy Trinity supports and improves the dishes it’s used in, and red beans and rice is no exception.

Beans & Greens – A Dynamic Duo

Beans & greens is a Southern staple — and one of those classic combinations that conjures up fond memories of home-cooked family meals around the dinner table. Cooked down, seasoned and flavored in countless different ways, any beans & greens mixture is a match made in heaven — from Southern Blackeye Peas snuggled up next to Collard Greens, to Shiitake Mushrooms, Butter Beans & Southern Greens over cheese grits, to Pork, Collard & Blackeye Pea Gumbo. Here, we bring you another delicious way to cook the dynamic duo — with a Beans & Greens Soup “master” recipe that features basic guidelines and quantities but is meant to be personalized to your tastes.

In our Beans & Greens soup, we used Green Baby Limas, leeks, shallots, white onion, red onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper, fennel, vegetable broth and Swiss chard.

Beans & Green Soup: Step-by-Step How-To

This how-to is as simple as slowly simmering your favorite combination of beans, onions, vegetables, broth and greens. And whether you make it vegan, vegetarian or cook with chicken or beef broth, you’ll love the end result. You’ll start with a little bit of fat, add some spices throughout and end with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar for a wonderful, bright finish. For a complex, flavorful soup that’s incredibly satisfying, we used Green Baby Limas with a variety of onions and vegetables, plus vegetable broth. A real winner.

1. Sauté onions in fat. Our master recipe calls for heating up 2 tablespoons of your favorite fat in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat — like olive oil, avocado oil or butter. Then, add 2 cups of chopped onion, such as white, yellow or red onion, leeks, shallots or any combination of these. (We found that the greater variety of onions you use, the deeper the flavor.)

2. Add aromatic vegetables. Next, add 2 cups of chopped vegetables — anything from carrots and celery to bell peppers and fennel. Your choice. Then sauté all for a few minutes, add some garlic, and cook another minute more. The aroma is amazing.

3. Add broth or stock. Then it’s time for 8 cups of broth or stock. It might be vegetable, chicken, beef, mushroom or ham. Whichever you prefer will work; each will add a unique richness to your soup. (Got some homemade stock in the freezer? This is a great time to use it.) The master recipe is vegetarian, so broth or stock is where you can add a hint of meatiness, if desired.

Use whichever dried beans you have in your pantry. Got a 2 lb. bag? Double the recipe for an easy freezer meal.

4. Add rinsed and sorted beans. A 1-pound bag of rinsed and sorted Camellia Brand Dried Beans goes in the pot next (or if you have a 2-pound bag on hand, double the recipe for an easy freezer meal). You might like Great Northerns, Navy Beans, Lentils or Green Baby Limas. Any of our bean varieties will add their own special flavor and texture; to make your choice, think about how light or how hearty you’d like the soup to be. And keep in mind the cooking time required per the bean variety you choose. For basic cooking times for all of our dried beans, peas and lentils, refer to this bean cooking chart. Soaking, as always, is optional but not necessary.

5. Simmer till beans are tender. The recipe then calls for a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and bringing the whole mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer till beans are tender — mashing as you go if you prefer a creamier soup.

6. Add greens and seasonings. Once the beans are tender, stir in 3 cups of chopped greens — from kale, collard, spinach or arugula to Swiss chard, cabbage or watercress — or any combination of these, plus the vinegar, which might be red wine vinegar, cider, champagne, mirin or white balsamic. Season with salt and pepper and cook until greens are wilted. The more delicate greens will have a lighter texture and wilt quickly, in just a minute or two, but heartier greens (such as collards or chard) may take up to 10-20 minutes. Got some leftover greens? Throw them in and cook till just warmed through.

7. Enjoy! When done, you’ll be rewarded with a hearty, comforting pot of soup that’s satisfying in every possible way. Warm, filling and full of protein, fiber and nutrients — who could ask for a more perfectly pleasing dish? Top a bowl with some fresh Parmesan or croutons, make sure the cornbread’s warm, and sit down to enjoy.