February 4, 2010
Posted by Michelle
Kicky Black Bean Soup
I’m home right now in between jobs (one more week of being at home… haven’t decided how I feel about that) playing stay-at-home-mom to my dog who is recovering from her second ACL surgery. Needless to say, I have some time on my hands so I thought I’d try a few recipes that were on my to-cook list. First up: my sister’s black bean soup.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m part of a family of cooks. I’m in the middle of five kids — everyone cooks and everyone is great at it. My sister, Shira, is especially good — she actually considered culinary school at one point’ she’s now running a small business with friends making organic baby food in Colorado (Urban Baby Gourmet). When Shira tells me that she has a great recipe, I listen. She sent me the black bean soup recipe for a cookbook that I’ve been putting together — all recipes from my family and friends. Shira has lots of recipes, but this is the one she sent. I took that to mean that it was a very good one.
Shira’s Black Bean Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves chopped garlic or 1 tbsp.
- 1 medium chopped onion
- 1 4 ounce can mild green chiles
- 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 3 14.5 ounce cans of black beans (I used about 4 cups of cooked fresh beans instead because I had them)
- 1 32 ounce carton of vegetable or chicken broth (I used low sodium vegetable)
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce chopped plus 1 teaspoon of the adobo
(You could use fresh chiles and tomatoes, but they aren’t in season this time of year so I stuck with the canned stuff.)
Saute the onion and garlic in a 6 quart saucepan over medium heat until the onions are translucent.
Drain and rinse the black beans. Add the green chiles, chipotle and adobo sauce, black beans, stock, and the whole can of tomatoes, juice and all.
(I didn’t have any tomatoes, so I left them out. It was still great, but I will use them in the future.)
Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes or so. Use an immersion blender for about 5 seconds to thicken the soup. If you do not have an immersion blender, transfer half of the mixture to a food processor or blender and blend for 5-10 seconds. Add back to the soup pot, bring back to a boil. Top each bowl with shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and/or green onions.
The soup is delicious — great texture and a lot of delicious smokiness from the chipotles. Shira said that she uses leftovers as a black bean dip sometimes. I used a couple ladle-fulls to spruce up some barley for dinner this week. But nothing beats reheating the soup with a slice of bread to sop up the goodness. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
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