EP 43: Bean Soup
(Black) Bean Soup
Serves: 6
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
This is the best black bean soup recipe I’ve come across that wasn’t served to me in a restaurant!
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 pinch black pepper
4 cups vegetable broth (or water)
4 (15 ounce) cans black beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onion, celery, carrots and garlic for 5 minutes. Season with chili powder, cumin, and black pepper; cook for 1 minute. Stir in vegetable broth, 2 cans of beans, and corn. While it comes to a boil, puree the remaining 2 cans of beans and tomatoes until smooth. Stir into boiling soup mixture, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Notes
The soup will thicken as it cools, but if you want it thicker, reduce the amount of broth by a cup.
This is pretty spicy on it’s own, but if you want to turn up the heat, add some cayenne pepper.
Try different kinds of beans to mix things up.
Use water if you don’t have any veggie broth on hand.
Frozen corn should work as a substitute for canned.
I like to add some crushed tortilla chips on top for some added crunch!
You can add extra veggies to make it even heartier, but it’s great as is.
My husband and I are cooking this right now! This is a great way to use up your canned beans/canned foods before they expire. Might try adding mushrooms and making it a bit thicker (less vegetable broth) Wish me luck!
October 31st, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Sounds delicious. How do you make veggie broth? How do you cut down on gas from beans?
November 19th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Done this tonight and it was a big success.
I serverd it together with some hot toasted bread, and added some mushrooms as well.
Thanks much, great video podcast.
December 7th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Making this again tonight, gonna serve it with some rice. TO answer the above question, to make veggie broth, you can combine chopped veggies in water and boil it for a bit, then strain out the liquid and use it as broth . . . or you can do what I do and just use canned veggie broth that you add water to. To cut down on gas from beans, if you are using canned beans, strain and rinse them very well before adding to the recipe, and if you are using dry beans, bring them to a boil and then let them soak overnight in the water . . . then rinse them thoroughly and continue cooking (about 1-2 hours on low heat). This will reduce gas significantly. But remember, the best way to get rid of gas from beans is to eat them often and let your digestive system get used to them.
December 10th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
This tastes great, came out nice, to reduce gas you can buy Asafoetida(hing is the indian name) powder from an indian grocery store, has a little zing taste of its own but i like it.
February 1st, 2009 at 2:47 pm