Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup

The key to this soup is to prepare your own beans, starting with dried beans because you have the control to keep them black instead of losing all that lovely color in the soaking liquid and turning out “grey” black beans.  The Kombu will naturally thicken the liquid as the seaweed is the gelatin of the sea.   This will take a day to plan in advance of making the soup, but the beans freeze very well and you can make a large batch and freeze in the liquid in portioned sizes, and removed from the freezer as needed. 

Beans:

2 cups black beans, rinsed

2 bay leaves

1 piece Kombu if you have it (makes a thicker liquid because it is the sea’s gelatin)

5 cups water

1/8 tsp. of baking soda – essential for beans that stay black and do not turn grey. 

1 tsp. salt

Soup: 

Olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 sweet bell pepper, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. garlic lovers (or 2 tsp. granulated garlic)

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup frozen corn (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Lime juice

Garnish: lime wedges, minced cilantro, diced red onion, avocado or guacamole

Method - For the Beans: 

Use a crock pot so you can just throw in the ingredients and cook them all day.  This way if you want to make the soup for dinner your beans are ready to go when you get home.  Rinse the beans and remove any that float or look bad, then toss the beans in the slow cooker.  Add the water, Kombu, Bay leaves, salt and baking soda.  Turn cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 4 hours and cook the beans until they are tender then cool the beans in the liquid if saving for later or freezing for future use.  The beans can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days if you are going to make the soup later.    The liquid will be very black, make sure to reserve it for your soup, discard the bay leaf and the Kombu if using the beans right away.

Method – For the Soup:

In a large Dutch oven or soup pot heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the carrots, onions, celery and bell pepper and sauté until the veggies become tender and start to turn golden brown, making sure to stir occasionally.  Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, cumin, garlic lovers and chili flakes and cook another minute until the seasonings become fragrant.  The bottom of the pot should be slightly dark from the cooking process and when you add the stock these wonderful bits of goodness will be released from the bottom of the pan and add yummy flavor to your dish. 

Add ½ of the beans and blend the other half into a puree with some of the bean liquid then add to the soup dish.  Now remove two to three cups of the soup and blend it, then re-add it to the soup.  Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes to blend the flavors.  Use an immersion blender to blend to desired amount if not satisfied with the results of previous blending this is all personal preference.    

Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper and lime juice, and then serve with desired garnishes.