Bill's Recipes

Black Bean Soup

Optional garnishes: diced avocado, extra cilantro, thinly sliced radishes, tortilla chips…

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and carrot and a light sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetable are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the beans (and vinegar) and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer, until the broth is flavorful and the beans are very tender, about 30 minutes.

Transfer about 4 cups of the soup to a stand blender, securely fasten the lid, and blend until smooth. Or, use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup.

Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir in the cilantro, vinegar/lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve.

Black Bean Soup

Garnish options: avocado, cilantro, shredded cheese, plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, sliced green onion

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and red pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in the black beans, vegetable broth, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Turn the soup to low and let simmer for 25 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. If you want to thicken the soup, use an immersion blender to purée some of the soup for a thicker consistency but don’t blend it completely, just a little to thicken it up. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can carefully transfer 2 to 3 cups of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Stir the pureed soup back into the pot.

Stir in the cilantro and fresh lime juice. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve warm with desired toppings.

Black Bean Soup

prep time: 8 min. cook time: 22 min.

Drain and rinse one can of beans. Put with gravy in blender and process until smooth. Pour into 4-quart saucepan.

Drain and rinse the remaining beans. Add to saucepan with V8 juice, cumin, peppers and 2 tablespoons of cilantro. Bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Ladle into soup bowls. Top with a tablespoon of sour cream, shredded cheese as desired, and remaining cilantro. Serve with warm flour tortillas, if desired. Serves 4.

Per serving:: 330 cal.; 20g protein; 45g carb; 10g fat; 27mg cholesterol; 14g sodium.

Black Bean soup with Ham

Place beans and ham hock in a 4-quart, thick-bottomed pot. Add 5 cups water, bay leaves, salt and baking soda. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and let cook 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until beans are tender. Remove bay leaves. Remove ham hock from the pot. Cut ham meat away from the bone and cut into small, bite-sized pieces, set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large 8-quart thick-bottomed pot on medium high until the oil is hot, but not smoking. Add the onions, celery, sweet potato and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and softened, about 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add the cumin, chili powder, and garlic, cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the beans, their cooking liquid, chicken stock, molasses, and bell pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 30 minutes.

(Optional) Remove 4 cups of the soup to a blender. Purée until smooth and return to the pot of soup. Add back the ham pieces to the soup. Add the lime juice. Adjust seasonings. If on the sweet side, add a bit more lime juice. Salt to taste.

Alternate: Substitue a 1 pound ham steak for the ham hock and substitute broth for the 5 cups of water that the beans cook in.