Black beans are one of my favorite beans – they go well with corn and tomatoes in cold salads as well as hot sides, but the king of all black bean recipes is black bean soup.
28ozvegetable broth (or 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon no chicken soup base with 28 ounces of water)
1onion, diced
1bell pepper, diced
2Tbsp.oil
10oztomatoes and green chilies, drained
3clovesgarlic, minced
1-2tsp.cumin
1tsp.salt
2tsp.black pepper, freshly ground
2tsp.lime juice
Sour cream, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, and chopped jalapenos as desired for garnish
Instructions
Sauté onion and bell pepper in oil in a skillet.
While the vegetables sauté, combine ½ of the prepared beans with all of the reserved liquid and the broth in a large soup pot. Using an immersion blender, puree the beans.
When onions and peppers are tender, add them to the pureed beans in the soup pot along with the remaining beans, garlic, tomatoes and green chilies, lime juice, and seasonings. Stir gently and simmer until soup is hot and flavors are blended, about 30-45 minutes.
Serve with sour cream, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, and chopped jalapenos as desired for garnish.
Notes
Prepared dried black beans are the base for the black bean soup, so if you need to make them make sure you soak them the night before. Dried beans are much cheaper than canned and easy to make, and you may wish to double the beans that you cook to freeze for later use.Puréeing half of the beans and keeping the other half whole will give this soup a nice texture with a smooth base.Don't try to substitute canned beans for the soup as they are not as tender as those cooked from dried, so the consistency will alter the texture of the soup.Nutrition facts do not include garnishes.If you like this soup, try a similar mixture without the broth to make a thick bean dip for corn chips.