Black Bean Soup

Soup for the week...

I decided that I will make my Black Bean Soup for this week’s soup.  I find making a soup once a week to have for quick lunches is great, and I can also freeze some for a wider variety later.  So far, I have the Turkey Chili and the 8 Can Taco Soup frozen for those days when it just ain’t gonna happen!. 

I have been making this recipe since about 2003.  It is a favorite of mine.  I normally use dried beans that I soak overnight, but I decided that this time I will use canned beans for time’s sake.  I’ve never done that before, so it will be a bit of an experiment.  It is not difficult to make, but time consuming, in that you have to think ahead of time to soak the beans, and it takes a good hour and a half to two hours to cook.  But, it’s great to make for those Fall/Winter weekends when you are stuck inside.

Here’s the OriginalRecipe: (From South Beach Diet Book)
1 ½ C DriedBlack Beans
6 Cups Water
               (Soak beans overnight it 6 CWater)
2 Tbs OliveOil
1 Onion,Chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
1 Celery Rib, Chopped
Ground Black Pepper to taste
1 Teaspoon Celery Seeds
Juice of 1 ½lemons (a few tablespoons)
Optional For Garnish: 1 lemon, celery leaves

Drain soaked beans.
Heat oil in large pot over md heat, add onion, garlic, celery and sautee.  (Mmmm smells Soooooo good!) for about 5minutes, until tender. Add beans and fresh 6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, or until beans are tender.
Remove half the beans to a food processor or blender and process.  This is what makes it seem creamy.  Add the pepper and celery seeds.  Return pureed beans to pot and heat, stirring until soup thickens..  Stir in lemon juice.

Here’s how I changed it for use with canned beans:
I used 4 cans of beans and 2 quarts (8 C) of water. I brought to a boil, then simmered for 30-40 min.

It tasted pretty much the same, and I didn’t have to worry about if the beans were done enough.  Though, overall it was a little more brothy than with dried beans.  I also prefer this with salt… though if you are using dried beans DO NOT use salt until they are completely done.  Beans will not soften with sugar or salt!  Did you know that?  I didn’t until about 10 years ago…
Happy Fall Soup Making!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Broccoli Ginger Slaw

Image
Broccoli Ginger Slaw This recipe was originally called a “Detox Salad”   but that name sounds a little scary!   So, I decided to rename it!   Its good for pitch ins, was not too hard to make, and not too expensive… not to mention it’s full of good-for-you things!      2 cups broccoli (This was like a small head of broccoli)      2 cups cauliflower (small head) 1 cup red cabbage, chopped or shredded (I bought a small bad of pre-chopped red cabbage- much more cost and time efficient than buying and entire head for just a small bit) 1 cup carrots, shredded or chopped.   (2-3 carrots) 1-1/2 cups fresh parsley (A couple of handfuls)   2 celery stalks   ½ cup almonds (or a couple of handfuls)   1/2 cup sunflower seeds (a couple of handfuls)   1/3 cup organic raisins (a few small boxes)   3 Tbsp olive oil   ½ cup lemon juice (juice of a whole lemon.   A little lemon grate in it is good too.   1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated   2 t
Read more

Bi-Coastal Salsa

Image
Bi-coastal Salsa Chop up these ingredients and put in a big bowl: 3 cloves garlic 3 green onions 1 small or ½ large red onion 1 small or 1 large Vidalia or sweet onion (1/2 jalepeno) 3-5 Tomatoes 1 green bell pepper 1 red bell pepper 1 orange bell pepper 1 yellow bell pepper (purple bell peppers are nice too, if available) ½ bunch chopped cilantro Mix together: 1-2 tbs red wine vinegar ¼ C lime juice (juice of 1 large  lime or two small ones) Grated lime peel Pepper ¼ tbs ground cumin 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp olive oil (or other salad oil of your choice) I adapted this recipe from two different salsa recipes.   One was from an LA Weigh Loss cook book, and another was from the South Beach cookbook… so, I named this “Bi-Coastal Salsa”! There is no cooking involved here, but the cutting can be tedious if it’s not your favorite thing to do. I like the peppers and onions to be chopped quite fine.   Putting them through a processor is an option, but
Read more

Pan Grilled Chicken

Image
For some people who might be beginning cooks-or for those who have never really taken the time to cook anything that doesn’t come from a box and with instructions, I will be glad to show you some simple and yummy basics- stuff that you won’t even need to have a recipe for. Some people are afraid of cooking meat-   I know I was at first.   I started off only cooking ground beef!   Here is something easy and fairly quick that you can do with chicken. I buy chicken breasts.   That way, I don’t have to mess with bones etc.   It is also the healthier part of the meat.   You can get them in big bags, frozen, or in smaller packages in the meat section not frozen.   If you have frozen ones, you should thaw them out a bit.   These days, you can do it in a microwave!   Check your settings. After you thaw them, if they are thick, cut them in half.   You can leave them partially connected, and just flay them out.   I don’t know what the correct term for that is, but that’s what
Read more