Black bean soup last night:

[kestrel91316]

1 lb of dry black beans, presoaked and drained
6 c beef broth
8 c water
4 cloves garlic

Simmer for 1 hour

Throw in 1 28 ox can diced tomatoes in juice
2 tsp freshly ground cumin (toast it first)

Simmer 2 hours, then run it all through food processor.

Reheat, top with sliced avocado, minced red onion, and a crema made from LF yogurt, chopped cilantro, and chopped fresh or pickled jalapenos.

Ummmmmmmmmmmy!!!!!

Tonight I am making homemade corn tortillas to go with.

[Tesha]

1. Ha! and 16 Bean Soup tonight!

I had a ham bone from Sunday dinner with our daughter...

bring bag o' beans to a boil and let cool, then drain off the liquid
meanwhile submerge bone with meat attached into a pot of water and let her go

an hour later
take out the bone and cool, then remove the meat and break into bits and return to the broth
with the beans and let it cook away until done!

I could throw in some onion, or a bay leaf, or garlic, or little pasta... but right now

it's looking pretty darned good.


oh, and the cornbread's cooling on the rack...

[EFerrari]

2. Try some chipotle chiles with black beans.

Smokey for real.

[GoCubsGo]

4. Oh, yes!!!

It's the perfect addition to black bean soup. I usually use the powdered version. I also add a can of diced tomatoes, with or without green chiles. Whether one adds them before or after pureeing the beans is up to one's taste. It's a good way to include a serving of veggies in the meal.

[MrMickeysMom]

7. I do that when I'm lazy and use canned beans...

Chipotle does the trick, that and some good dried oregano and garlic with it.

[EFerrari]

10. Mark Miller says to grind together Mexican oregano, thyme,

cumin seed and coriander to put in black bean soup. The blend is amazing. His recipe is also about throwing in a (whole) bunch of cilantro, whole cloves of garlic and half an onion, plus two jalapenos, sliced in half (not seeded or skinned). You put all of that into some cheesecloth so you can take it out when the soup is done.

I make his BB Soup and then use the beans to make BB tamales because the flavor is unbelievable.

[MrMickeysMom]

11. I'm drooling...

This advice shall be filed under, "keeper" :P

[noamnety]

3. Sounds great!

If you do that sort of thing a lot, you might want to pick up a cheap stick blender. I finally did after reading so many comments here about them - all positive. I make a lot of soup and it is such a luxury to be able to just blend it right in the pot instead of having to ladle batches into the processor, pour it into a second large bowl for the processed stuff, ladle more into the processor, etc.

[kestrel91316]

5. Thank you! Now I know what to ask my sister for NEXT Christmas.

She always buys my gifts at Williams-Sonoma (except when she buys them at Land's End or Talbot's, lol).

[hippywife]

9. I second that suggestion.

It's a heck of a lot easier than putting hot soup through a food processor.

Your soup sounds really good. :hi:

[MrMickeysMom]

6. I have other good black bean recipes, but I think I'm gonna try this one, too!

In fact, I think I've never had a bad black bean soup experience.

I almost gave up on dried beans, mainly because I think I had them too long in my pantry and my last soup bean never softened enough. Could have been me. I take it that to make a crema is just to strain yogurt and add other ingredients, yes?

Thanks.

[kestrel91316]

8. The yogurt isn't strained, but you could do that. Or use Fage which comes strained.

It's a low-fat version of sour cream is all.

[MrMickeysMom]

12. 0% Fage.... Roger that!

[undergroundnomore]

13. This sounds GREAT

and a much healthier choice than what I had for dinner. (kicking self for letting hubby pick up "something")

[tigereye]

14. mmm, have to try this. We love black beans...

[midnight]

15. Made a "version" of this wonderful soup today. I just used what I had in my

pantry. I had only an eight oz. can of diced tomatoes so I substituted with some sun dried tomatoes. It was so simple and it taste delicious. The next time I make this I will want to try it with the avocados, cilantro and the cream. This time around I topped with fresh tomatoes and onions.