Black Bean Soup
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes with cooked or canned beans
M O
Here’s a master recipe for whenever you want to start with cooked or canned beans. I like to mash some of the black beans in the pot for a smooth-chunky effect.
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons sherry or dark rum (optional)
- 4 cups cooked or canned black beans (page 435), drained
- 3 cups vegetable stock (pages 97–100) or water
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
- ½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt (optional)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
- Put the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onion and cook, stirring, until it softens, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin and cook, stirring, until fragrant, another minute or so.
- Stir in the sherry if you’re using it and let it bubble away for a minute. Add the beans and stock, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat so it bubbles gently but steadily. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften and the soup thickens, 5 to 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Use a potato masher to purée some of the beans in the pan (or you can use an immersion blender to purée the soup until almost smooth). (You can make the soup in advance up to this point. Cool, cover, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and reheat before proceeding.) Add the lime juice and stir; taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with sour cream, if you’d like, and cilantro, and serve.
Tangy Orange–Black Bean Soup Omit the lime juice. In Step 2, replace 2 cups of the stock with 2 cups orange juice (preferably fresh); add 2 teaspoons grated orange zest.
Black Bean Soup, Latin American Style More like a stew: When you add the beans in Step 2, include 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks; they’ll take about 20 minutes to become tender. Don’t purée. Instead, when the sweet potato is ready, add 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped, and 1 cup chopped mango (frozen is fine). Continue cooking until just warmed through before serving.