Black Bean Soup

Serves

Hardware

Ingredients

3 cups   dried black beans, soaked overnight (see note below)
¼ cup   olive oil
2   medium onions, finely chopped
6 - 12 cloves   garlic, crushed or minced
1½ tsp   oregano
1 Tblsp   cumin
1½ tsp   crushed red pepper
1½ qt   chicken or vegetable stock (strain off fat)
1   bay leaf
  salt

Procedure

  1. Drain and rinse the beans and set aside.

  2. Heat the oil in a large pot, then add the onions; cook until the onions are soft but not brown.

  3. Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, and red pepper; cook on a high heat for 1 minute.

  4. Add the beans and stir until the oil is absorbed.

  5. Add the stock, bay leaf, and salt; bring to a simmer.

  6. Lower heat, cover the pot, and simmer for about 50 minutes, or until the beans are soft.

  7. Remove the bay leaf (!) and blend 5 cups of the soup to a coarse puree; return puree to the pot, reheat the entire mixture, and season as needed.

Notes

Beans can also be quick-cooked instead of being soaked overnight. To do this, place the beans in water and bring to a boil; remove from the heat and let stand 1 hour; drain.

My kitchen scale says that three cups of dried black beans weigh just over 1¼ pounds; buy 1½ pounds just to be safe.

Consider as a permanent change . . . Chop and saute 3-4 strips of thick-cut bacon; reserve the bacon. Saute the onions in the bacon fat, adding olive oil as necessary.

Consider as a permanent change . . . Don't soak the beans; add 10 grams of salt to the stock, and increase the cooking time to 90 minutes. If you use the (optional) bacon, reduce the salt to 6 grams.

Rating

Source

[Up to the recipe index] [Abbreviations] [Back to AdamM's home page]