Black Bean Soup
I made a truly excellent black bean soup for dinner tonight in the pressure cooker, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you all, since I don't really have much else to report. It's very much a "whatever you have on hand" kind of recipe, and can be tweaked to your taste. I also think it would be excellent in the slow cooker. Just put it on low in the morning and come home to a delicious aroma.
1. Grab a bag of dried black beans. (Yes, dried.) Pick out anything that doesn't belong and rinse well. Set aside.
2. Chop 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper (or other peppers of your choosing; I'm sure spicy peppers would not go amiss if that's your thing), and 6 cloves of garlic. (Trust me, it will not be too garlicky. Unless you really hate garlic. If so, go easier or omit.) We also happened to have a few slices of bacon on hand. If you do, chop that up, too.
3. If you're using an Instant Pot or some similar gadget, set to saute and cook your bacon. When that's looking brown, toss in your onion, peppers, and garlic. Stir that around real good until it starts to get soft and fragrant. Then toss in your spices: 2 t. cumin, as much chili powder as you think you can handle (I used about 3 t.), and a couple of heaping teaspoons of Mexican oregano if you have it. If not, regular oregano will do just fine. Stir that around until you smell all that goodness. NOM.
4. Add 6 c. of liquid. It could be chicken broth or vegetable broth, it could be hot water (if the water is hot, it won't take as long to get up to temp and start pressure cooking), it could be hot water with a chicken stock base like I get from Penzey's. (10/10, would recommend.) Do NOT for the love of god add salt at this juncture. Salt will prevent the beans from getting soft. You add that later. Toss in 2-3 bay leaves, put the lid on, and set to manual pressure for 35-40 minutes.
5. Do a natural release for about 20 minutes, vent the steam, and remove the lid. If your beans are soft, you're good, move on to the next step. If they're not soft, put the lid back on and pressure cook for another 5-10 minutes. This is not an exact science, people. (I assume that 10-ish hours in the slow cooker will do the same thing, but I suggest cooking the bacon, onions, peppers and garlic first before dumping it all together.)
6. Are the beans toothsome? Excellent. Time for the finishing touches. Add salt and pepper, whatever makes sense, any extra seasonings that seem good to you, and about a tablespoon or two of an acid. I had red wine vinegar to hand, and that worked just fine, but lime juice or apple cider vinegar would also be good. You can eat it just like that, but if you want a creamier soup, grab your immersion blender or a regular blender and puree until as smooth as you like it. Then you can add whatever you like on top: salsa, sour cream, chopped onion, pickled onion, cilantro, cheese... Again, it's whatever you have on hand.
Frankly, I'd probably add a can of Mexican corn at the end next time. We had fresh corn salsa, but it didn't quite work with the soup. Cooked corn would be excellent, though. Just add after you blend.
And there you have it: a delicious black bean soup. Omit the bacon and chicken broth for a vegetarian version, and use veggie stock, veggie soup base, or just water with extra seasoning for the flavor if you want a vegetarian/vegan version.
1. Grab a bag of dried black beans. (Yes, dried.) Pick out anything that doesn't belong and rinse well. Set aside.
2. Chop 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper (or other peppers of your choosing; I'm sure spicy peppers would not go amiss if that's your thing), and 6 cloves of garlic. (Trust me, it will not be too garlicky. Unless you really hate garlic. If so, go easier or omit.) We also happened to have a few slices of bacon on hand. If you do, chop that up, too.
3. If you're using an Instant Pot or some similar gadget, set to saute and cook your bacon. When that's looking brown, toss in your onion, peppers, and garlic. Stir that around real good until it starts to get soft and fragrant. Then toss in your spices: 2 t. cumin, as much chili powder as you think you can handle (I used about 3 t.), and a couple of heaping teaspoons of Mexican oregano if you have it. If not, regular oregano will do just fine. Stir that around until you smell all that goodness. NOM.
4. Add 6 c. of liquid. It could be chicken broth or vegetable broth, it could be hot water (if the water is hot, it won't take as long to get up to temp and start pressure cooking), it could be hot water with a chicken stock base like I get from Penzey's. (10/10, would recommend.) Do NOT for the love of god add salt at this juncture. Salt will prevent the beans from getting soft. You add that later. Toss in 2-3 bay leaves, put the lid on, and set to manual pressure for 35-40 minutes.
5. Do a natural release for about 20 minutes, vent the steam, and remove the lid. If your beans are soft, you're good, move on to the next step. If they're not soft, put the lid back on and pressure cook for another 5-10 minutes. This is not an exact science, people. (I assume that 10-ish hours in the slow cooker will do the same thing, but I suggest cooking the bacon, onions, peppers and garlic first before dumping it all together.)
6. Are the beans toothsome? Excellent. Time for the finishing touches. Add salt and pepper, whatever makes sense, any extra seasonings that seem good to you, and about a tablespoon or two of an acid. I had red wine vinegar to hand, and that worked just fine, but lime juice or apple cider vinegar would also be good. You can eat it just like that, but if you want a creamier soup, grab your immersion blender or a regular blender and puree until as smooth as you like it. Then you can add whatever you like on top: salsa, sour cream, chopped onion, pickled onion, cilantro, cheese... Again, it's whatever you have on hand.
Frankly, I'd probably add a can of Mexican corn at the end next time. We had fresh corn salsa, but it didn't quite work with the soup. Cooked corn would be excellent, though. Just add after you blend.
And there you have it: a delicious black bean soup. Omit the bacon and chicken broth for a vegetarian version, and use veggie stock, veggie soup base, or just water with extra seasoning for the flavor if you want a vegetarian/vegan version.