Black Bean Soup
This is a wonderfully delicious, vegetarian, black bean soup. The pureed vegetables makes the soup creamy, without adding fat. Some chipotle give it a subtle smoky flavor. The soup is very satisfying as a first course or main course in a mexican-style meal. Originally served as part of: Grilled Cheese and Black Bean Soup.
- Sofrito Black Bean Soup (April 14, 2003)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups onions (chopped)
- 1/2 large red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- salt
- 1 canned in adobo sauce chipotle pepper (minced)
- 2 teaspoons powder cumin
- 1 cup water
- 28 ounces canned whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 30 ounces canned black beans
- to garnish chopped cilantro, limes and low-fat sour cream
Instructions
In a large pot, we heat the oil over medium heat. We add the onions, lower the heat to medium-low, and sweat the onions for about 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, we chop the red pepper, yielding about 3/4 cup. We also mince the garlic with some salt to make a paste. Finally, for our prep, we open the cans of tomatoes and black beans. When the onions are softened and translucent, we add the red bell pepper and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Then we add our garlic and stir for about a minute. Next we stir in the chipotle and the cumin. After a minute, we add the water and the juice from the can of tomatoes. With our kitchen scissors, we chop up the tomatoes in the can as best we can, and then add them to the pot. We add the dried oregano, and raise the heat to medium. We bring the soup to a boil, and then simmer it gently, partially covered, for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, we drain and rinse the black beans in a colander. When the tomatoes are beginning to break down, we add these to the pot, and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes or so. We then remove about 2 cups of the soup and puree it in our blender. We add this to the remaining soup and it makes the soup wonderfully creamy. We taste for salt and keep the soup on low heat until ready to serve.
When we serve our soup, we add a squeeze of lime, chopped cilantro, and a dollop of sour cream.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1½ cups onions (chopped)
- ½ large red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- salt
- 1 chipotle in adobo (minced)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 cup water
- 28 oz canned whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 30 oz canned black beans (drained and rinsed)
- lime, cilantro and low-fat sour cream (to garnish)
Instructions
What's a kid job?
A Kid job is a step kids can help with, with a grown-up nearby, not one they do on their own. Every kid is different, so go by what your child can do rather than by age. Roughly:
- Little ones (about 2 to 4) can stir, pour in ingredients a grown-up has measured, tear lettuce, wash vegetables and sprinkle toppings.
- Older kids (about 5 to 8) can also measure and level, crack eggs, whisk, roll and cut out dough, and put things together.
- Bigger kids can read the recipe aloud, keep track of the timer, and take on more of the cooking as they're ready.
Steps with a knife, microplane, skewers, stove, oven, grill or hot oil, or with raw meat, poultry or seafood, are marked Grown-up. Kids can still watch those, from a safe distance.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, add the onions, lower to medium-low, and sweat about 8 minutes.
Grown-up
Meanwhile, chop the pepper (about ¾ cup) and mince the garlic to a paste with some salt. Open the cans.
When the onions are soft, add the pepper and cook about 5 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the chipotle and cumin for 1 minute more.
Add the water and the juice from the tomatoes. Snip the tomatoes in the can with kitchen scissors and add them with the oregano. Raise to medium, bring to a boil, and simmer partly covered about 5 minutes.
When the tomatoes start to break down, add the beans and simmer about 15 minutes.
Purée about 2 cups of soup in a blender and stir it back in to make it creamy. Taste for salt and keep warm on low.
Kid job
Serve with a squeeze of lime, chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.