www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Food - Recipes Black Bean Soup

Alice,

Here is the Black Bean Soup recipe you requested on the other thread:

1/2 lb dried black beans
2 small/medium onions, chopped
2 small/medium carrots, chopped
1-2 small/med stalks celery, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
approx. 20 oz good-quality canned tomatoes
2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 - 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
water to desired consistency
oil - optional

Soak beans overnight. Drain, rinse, and cook. (I cook them in the crockpot, so I don't have to fuss with foaming beans overflowing the pot. I also cook a whole pound of beans, and then I freeze half for another use).

Cook onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, water to desired consistency, cumin, salt, and pepper together till veggies are softened. Add the beans, and simmer for a while to let flavors blend. Stir in cilantro, and remove from heat. Let sit a few minutes, covered, before serving. (This lets the cilantro wilt a little)

If you are using oil, then you can either start by sauteeing the veggies in the oil a bit, or you can just add the oil to the pot along with everything else.

I don't add much water because I like mine pretty thick, almost like a stew.

I don't add anything to make it hot, but obviously you can add cayenne, or any kind of hot peppers, if you like hot food.

It's a very simple recipe with few ingredients. The trick to getting it to taste good, in my experience, is using good-quality canned tomatoes that really have flavor. Also, cooking the beans yourself rather than using canned. I usually throw in an all-natural no-salt vegan boullion cube, too, if I have one around. (I like the "Rapunzel" brand). If you have your own homemade veggie stock, that would be even better, I'm sure.

Thanks so much Jaya! It sounds good and nutritious as well! I will try it.

I agree about canned tomatoes. Do you have a special brand which you like?

To be clear, after you have sautéed the vegetables, you add the beans, and then some water?

I also like thick soups.

I will look for the Rapunzel vegan boullion cube. Although I like to make home made chicken stock, I have never made home made vegetable stock, though I should one of these days. Now that I see it next to the Chicken Stock in markets, it makes it too easy to not make my own!

Thanks again,
Alice

I don't really have a favorite brand of tomatoes right now. I used to get some really good fire-roasted ones when I lived in Tucson. The ones I used last week were good, too. They were from Italy (not necessarily a guarantee of quality), and I got them for next to nothing at an Amish salvage store. I know what the label looks like, but I don't know the brand name.

I often make the soup when it's a strict fast day, so I leave out the oil then. If I am sauteeing the veggies in oil first, I would do that for about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes and a little water, and let it simmer till the veggies are done, then add the beans and cook for a bit longer to blend the flavors. There's no right way to do it, really - lots of variations are possible.

The Rapunzel cubes aren't anything super-special. They're just the best of the all-natural that I've tried. I don't use the veggie stocks in the regular grocery store because they normally contain various ingredients I prefer not to use. There are probably better ones than Rapunzel, but I've kind of settled on that one because it's all-natural, reasonably good, and more affordable than some of the others at Whole Foods.