When the temperatures drop, I crave soup…and bread. I scanned the cupboards to see what I had on hand and found a lovely bag of black beans. I also had a few of the essentials around, so Black Bean Soup it was!
The first thing I needed to do was prepare the beans. According to the bag (1 lbs dry black beans) this meant bringing them to a boil in 4 cups of water and simmering for 10 minutes and then covering them for a one hour rest.
While the beans were plumping, I assembled the other ingredients. Not having a tried and true recipe on hand, I gleaned several recipes online and came up with a recipe of my own based on my preferences (as in no cilantro, as some recipes called for…I am one of those peculiar people who can’t stand the stuff!) and what I happened to have on hand. This is how I do most of my home cooking. It has helped to have this blog so I can write it down. That way I don’t have to repeat the process from scratch when I want to create a dish from scratch! 🙂
Here’s what I came up with:
Starting line-up – the holy trinity for anything hot and soupy or stewy…
1 onion, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
about 6 garlic cloves, chopped
A little spice-a isa so nice-a 🙂
“To Taste” (you’ll want to adjust the amounts based on your own preferences)
Salt
Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper (me? I like it hot! so I use about a 1/2 teaspoon of the stuff, but you may want to be a bit more conservative.)
“By the Numbers” (I saw this ingredient on several recipes. When ground, it’s aroma reminds me of chili powder (without the chilies of course) and since I’ve already added the heat a la crushed red pepper, straight cumin felt like a good add to the mix. (Hey, you’re dealing with an intuitive cook here! Preparing food is a very emotional, driven by the senses type of experience for me. I haven’t killed anyone with my cooking yet, so I’m going with it!) 🙂
So…make that, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
And a few more essentials:
two cans of chopped tomatoes (15 oz each or so)
1 TBS of Balsamic Vinegar (This was one of those “magic” ingredients mentioned a few times, meant to make this soup amazing!)
4 cups of Vegetable Broth (I found a cool concentrate brand…so I always have some in the ‘fridge.)
Once you have added all of the above to your beans (don’t drain) in your soup pot, you’re going to want to simmer it for several hours until the beans are tender. It smells heavenly while it cooks.
I’m thinking I will serve it with a bit of sour cream or shredded cheese (need to check the ‘fridge to see what I have…) I always have one or both on hand.
And as a perfect side-kick, my favorite recipe of all time…Beer Bread. You can see that recipe HERE.
Check back a little later today. I’ll be posting the final pic, all bowled and camera-ready when it’s done! 🙂
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It’s later…(about 2 hours)
Even though the beans were quite soft, the consistency was a bit more soupy than I like it, so I pulled out my hand blender to thicken things up a bit. And…it needed a little bit more salt. This is your chance to make your final tweaks…
I added a bit of shredded gouda…and oh my, it was-a mighty good-a! The perfect soup to warm the belly on a cold winter’s night. Enjoy! 🙂
January 24th, 2016 at 6:14 pm
Well look at that, you can-a cook-a along with-a rhyme-a! LOL. This soup looks delicious! p.s. Good call on the balsamic vinegar!!! 🙂
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January 24th, 2016 at 6:16 pm
Not sure what the balsamic vinegar was supposed to add to the brew…but I’m keeping it in the recipe. The overall taste was delish!
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January 24th, 2016 at 6:18 pm
If you made it without it you would definitely taste the difference. 🙂
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January 24th, 2016 at 6:18 pm
😊
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January 24th, 2016 at 7:06 pm
What a lovely yummmmy soup! I love how you improvised and did what you wanted, that is the best way I think! It is also nice to blog it as you said so you have it saved! Yuum I will be right over!
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January 24th, 2016 at 7:08 pm
Come and join me! I wish you and I lived closer so that you could! It was very tasty and will provide me me warm lunches at work this week! 🙂
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January 24th, 2016 at 7:16 pm
It really sounds yummy and I love black beans! I wish too!
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January 24th, 2016 at 8:06 pm
Thank goodness for this little virtual world of ours!!! Here you are right next door! 🙂
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January 24th, 2016 at 8:08 pm
I know! It is amazing!
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January 24th, 2016 at 7:17 pm
Looks great! I’m not fond of cilantro, either…
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January 24th, 2016 at 8:08 pm
There are a few of us who can’t do cilantro. BTW it was very good! 🙂
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January 24th, 2016 at 9:13 pm
Thank you, Kat! What a YUMMO combo!! You are all set for these cold evenings! 😊
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January 24th, 2016 at 9:15 pm
Yes indeed Catherine! As well as a few yummy warm lunches to pack this week! 😊
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January 24th, 2016 at 10:17 pm
Now this is sounding good 🙂
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January 24th, 2016 at 10:50 pm
It was good Jacqueline! I really like how this recipe turned out. 😊
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January 25th, 2016 at 10:26 pm
Sounds good and looks delicious! I live in 5,000+ ft. altitude and it takes hours for ours beans to cook. But they are worth it! I live near a huge Navajo Indian “Farm” and bought 40 lbs. of their pinto beans this fall.
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January 25th, 2016 at 10:33 pm
Yum. I didn’t realize the effects altitude has on cooking. How interesting. But you are right, so worth it! 🙂
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January 25th, 2016 at 10:39 pm
One thing I have learned, the fresher the beans, the quicker they cook.
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January 25th, 2016 at 10:40 pm
How interesting. I just love how much I am learning here on WordPress. 🙂
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January 26th, 2016 at 4:10 pm
Black bean soup is so de-lish.
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January 26th, 2016 at 9:40 pm
Yes it is! Perfect for cold nights! 😊
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