Black Bean Soup

This soup, although not the prettiest soup in the world, is mighty tasty.  There's lots of cumin, ham and vegetables!  I adapted this recipe from the New Best Light Recipe.  This soup lasts for days and it tastes even better the second day! I was a little concerned about cooking dried beans without soaking, but the recipe assured me that soaking the beans was unnecessary.  It worked out fine, so there really is no need to soak dried beans ahead of time.

Black Bean Soup

Adapted from the New Best Light Recipe

Ingredients:

Beans

6 cups water

1 pound (2 cups) dried black beans, rinsed and picked over

2 bay leaves

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Soup

9 ounces ham, finely diced

3 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 large onions, finely chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

4 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (I actually didn't have enough and ground up cumin seeds in my coffee/spice grinder.  It was really fresh and tasty, so if you have cumin seeds, try grinding those up for this soup.

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 canned chipotles in adobo sauce, minced

4 teaspoons of adobo sauce (from canned chipotles)

4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Garnish with:

1 avocado, diced and mixed with a little lime juice

low-fat sour cream

raw onion or scallions

cilantro

red pepper flakes (to taste)

salt

Directions:

Cook the Beans:

Bring 5 cups of the water, the beans, bay leaves and baking soda to a boil in a large lidded saucepan over medium-high heat.  Skim off any "scum" on the top.  Add the salt and switch heat to low.  Cover and simmer until the beans are tender.  This should take  from 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  Mine were ready way before I expected so they were slightly overcooked.  Check them often near the end of the cooking time and taste several beans to make sure they are all cooked.  If there isn't enough water, add an extra cup of water and continue cooking until the beans are soft, however, when the beans are done, there shouldn't be a lot of water with the beans, most of it should have cooked out.  I did not need to add extra water to cook my beans.  When the beans are cooked, do NOT drain them.  Take out the bay leaves and set aside.

Make the soup:

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil.  Add the ham and cook it until lightly browned 2-3 minutes.  Add the celery, onions, carrot, garlic, cumin, pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until vegetables are soft and browned.  Stir in the cooked black beans and their cooking liquid, 4 cups of chicken broth and the chipotles and adobo sauce.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, partially covered.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer for 30 minutes.

Puree 1 1/2 cups of the beans and 2 cups of the cooking liquid in a blender (be careful!).  Return the blended mixture to the pot and stir.  If the soup is too thick, add more chicken broth, if it is too thin, either puree more beans for cook it for a little longer with the lid off. 

Remove from heat, stir in the lime juice and serve with the garnishes.  This soup improves over time and can be stored for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

Comments

[Foy]

No, need to soak, but you'll use less energy if you soak ahead of time. Also I believe Cooks Illustrated told me the longer beans are cooked the less magical tooting they will cause. So although not necessary, maybe not a bad idea. Also I believe dried beans taste way better than canned. Way better.