I made this soup in the crockpot, which may have taken away some of the tasty olive oil sautee flavor that you get with the onion and garlic usually. I will make on the stove if I decide to make it again. In any case, I just cannot understand how anyone thought this was bland!! It was extremely spiced, maybe too much, and believe me, I LOVE heavy spices and flavors. It would have been inedible with double the spices. I think the thing that threw me off was the cardamom. Next time I will leave this out. I also made the mango cardamom bread pudding for dessert with this and I can see how the spice tastes immensely better in baked goods and sweets. I added a teaspoon of curry powder (the cardamom was oddly sweet and I wanted the soup to be a little more savory), used a diced summer squash instead of celery, used chicken broth instead of water, and only used one can of red beans. Three stars because the spicing wasn't as tasty as I thought and slightly overpowering. I know lots of people love cardamom in this, but here's my advice if you aren't familiar with cardamom: Smell the spice, and if you don't love it, don't use it. I should have listened to my instincts when I smelled it and was a little put off.
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