Honestly, I tried to think of a more creative name, utilizing some interesting adjectives and unfortunately, all I could come up with was “Tasty Black Bean Soup” and “Yummy Black Bean Soup” or “Hey, try this good soup!” – yeah, clearly not on a creative path today. My brain is a little fried due to workplace drama and the high stress level involved with creating and giving midterms. I’m not so stressed about my own stuff – I’m organized and all caught up on grading!- but the stress from others is rubbing off on me… On top of that, I’m coming down with a cold. =(
Needless to say, this is the time for a warm, comforting bowl of soup.
Over the weekend, I had lunch with my parents, and came up with this soup. My mom had a recipe from her Williams-Sonoma Soup cookbook, and I looked at it, read it, but as usual, I could not follow directions and just make the soup.
My version of this reminds me of Brazilian feijoada – black bean soup made with spices and tasty meats. But alas, my photo looks absolutely nothing like feijoada if you look it up.
Here’s what I did:
Kat’s Black Bean Soup (adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Soup cookbook)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 medium carrots
2-3 stalks of celery
salt & pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. chili powder (leave it out if you don’t want the heat)
1 slice deli ham, chopped
splash of sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
4 cups chicken stock
handful of flatleaf parsley
- Add the oil to a soup pot and let it heat up (temp = medium)
- Chop the onion, carrots, and celery – don’t worry to much about the cuts since you will blend it at the end.
- Smash the garlic and add it to the pan with the other veggies
- Season with salt & pepper, then let the veggies sweat for about 5 minutes
- Add the spices and stir to coat the veggies – it’s ok, in fact, it’s awesome if they get a little caramelized
- Push the veggies to the sides of the pan, making a hole in the middle
- Put the ham into the hole in the middle and let it caramelize a little bit
- Deglaze the pan with the sherry vinegar and be sure to scrape up any brown bits
- Stir in the tomato paste
- Add the black beans and stir again
- Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil, then
- Toss in the parsley and let it wilt
- Using a stick blender, blend the soup in the pot
- Serve with bread
I didn’t blend it completely, so it still had a bit of texture – no mush allowed! (Unless, of course, you want it! If you do, cook the soup until the black beans are soft, and blend the soup til smooth.)
Whenever I make a soup, I think of Natty (my roommate when we lived in Madrid) telling our Ecuadorian maid that “we have teeth” and “we like texture” (jaja) – Natty, I think you’d like this one. =)
4 Comments
Danielle C
This sounds yummy! Wish I hadn’t used my can of black beans last night. D’oh!
Kat S.
Don’t you love that canned beans are so cheap?! And so nutritious. Somehow we are always running out, though. I need to take the plunge and stock up so we don’t run out =)
Natty!
Haha yes totally! I like to bite (because I couldn’t think of the word for chew!!)
Haha so my friend was visiting the other week and we made a curried butternut squash soup and blended it but def overblended as it was too much like Paco’s soups. Totally thought of the same thing when I was eating it. Yummy but again I do like using my teeth!!!
Kat S.
Haha – I do miss that green soup – asparagus??
Ok, let’s be honest – I miss everything but the tortilla. =)