Monday, April 30, 2012

Black Bean Soup

My mom was usually the cook at our house. There were nights she was gone and my dad had to take on the role and cook for all 7 kids. From what I can remember, his specialties were spaghetti, pancakes, fast food runs, and occasionally canned soup. The two soups that made a memorable impression (aka: long-standing family jokes) were the "cheese soup" and "chocolate soup". They are in quotations because there was nothing related to real cheese in the cheese soup (even for kids that would eat velveeta cheese plain, we refused to eat more than a few bites...our dad finally tasted it and let us dump it out and scavenge for something else). The "chocolate" soup was actually black bean soup, but since there were several bean-haters in our family, he thought he could get us to eat it by calling it chocolate. Ha ha. Nice try dad. One bite in we knew he was trying to trick us.  I was one of the few that would eat beans but I don't remember liking that soup. This recipe, however is nothing like canned bean soup. It is awesome! My friends at ourbestbites.com gave me the great idea of adding green chilies to the soup, which I think is a great addition. It doesn't make it too spicy so I still add the kick of red pepper flakes too. Then, as I was writing this, I thought...maybe my dad has something there...wouldn't a little cocoa powder add an extra layer of depth to this soup? I'm dying to try that next time. I'll let you know if it turns out even better.

Recipe:

Black Bean Soup
1-2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 14 oz. can black beans
1/2 can green chilies
2 cups broth  (chicken, vegetable, or beef)
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
salt and black pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp lime juice
Method:
Start with the mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery) and garlic sauteing in the oil until they start to get soft. Add all the spices and allow it them to soak in and get fragrant. Then add the black beans, green chilies and broth. Let it simmer for 15 min. Use your immersion blender and briefly blend it to get the base of the soup creamy. Don't get it too smooth, I think it is best with quite a bit of the beans and texture left. Squeeze the lime juice at the end and mix in. We like it without any significant garnishes or fat put on top.

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