Bland bean soup

[cjsmith]

Bean soup: onion, celery, a lot of great northern beans, parsley, *some* kind of meat for flavor.

If the meat used is salt pork, the soup turns out to have absolutely no flavor whatsoever. Seriously, this is the blandest thing I've tasted in a long time.

I'm sure some herbs and spices could save this. Beyond the obvious cracked black pepper, what would you add?

Comments

[jtidwell.livejournal.com]

Coming in late on this thread, but... I often find that bean soups without any acid taste really, really bland to me. Some to try, not necessarily together:

* Tomatoes
* Lemon, lime, or orange juice (though orange adds lots of sugar too)
* Wine
* Vinegar. Cider vinegar is my favorite for generic use, but you can also try red wine, rice, or balsamic vinegar (same warning about sugar), depending on the flavors you want.

For the soup you describe, I would add some canned diced tomatoes early in the cooking process, but it's too late for that. :-) Cider vinegar might rescue it, though; apple flavor complements both pork and pale beans. A dry white wine might work too.

I agree with previous posters about Maillard reactions -- always tasty with beans! -- and salt. I'd try those in addition to acid.

So what did you end up doing, and how did it work out? :-)