Simple Black Bean Soup

A pot of chili is pretty easy to whip together and goes a long way toward enhancing a fall sports tailgating experience or warming up a dreary fall evening. I hate to admit this, but lately, even a pot of chili seems like a lot of work. It’s really quite shameful.

And so I returned to this old soup recipe that I think I had clipped from a box of Saltine crackers many years ago. Like maybe 15 years ago. Seriously. I no longer seem to have the original clipping, but the soup still tastes as good as I remember it. And it’s really very simple to make for all its heartiness and good flavor. Once you chop and sauté and onion and some garlic, the rest is pretty much just pouring beans, broth and salsa out of cans and jars, running a blender for a few seconds, and waiting around for the soup to cook.

I did cook dried black beans for this soup, but you could certainly use the more convenient canned beans, too. I’m sure that’s what I used to do when this was one of the few recipes I had been brave enough to tackle. I just happened to have the dried beans this time. I also still happen to have fresh chile peppers from my garden, but you could use crushed red pepper flakes to spice up your soup is that’s more convenient.

Of course, you can control the spiciness as much as you want by selecting the salsa to match your tastes. I used a simple tomato and pepper bottled salsa that was labeled "medium" in heat. You could make it super-spicy with "hot" salsa or mild or fruity or whatever. You could also make this a vegetarian, or even vegan soup by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth or water.
 

 

This recipe is my go-to black bean soup, partly because it is so delicious, but also because it requires very little effort. There is no shortage of black bean soup recipes out there, however, and you can pick and choose from among the ingredients in as many of them as you want to make your own custom concoction. Just don’t neglect the recipes on all those ingredient packages. They, like this one, just might be pretty darn good.
 

Black Bean Soup with Salsa

Adapted from a recipe on a box of crackers (I think)

I used reduced-sodium chicken broth and home-cooked black beans to make this soup. If you are using other products that might contain more salt, you may wish to reduce the added salt in the recipe. Taste for salt at the end and add more if needed.

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon coarse salt, or to taste
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 small to medium fresh chile pepper, minced
4 ½ cups, or about 3 (16 ounce) cans, black beans, drained
2 cups chicken broth (I used low sodium)
3 cups prepared salsa
2 Tbs lime juice 

1. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and chile pepper. Cook and stir about 1 minute more.

2. Meanwhile, place about half the beans and 1 cup chicken broth in a blender. Process until smooth. Pour into the cooked onion mixture. Stir in remaining beans, salsa and remaining chicken broth.

3. Bring to a low boil and simmer about 30 minutes or until everything is very tender. Stir in the lime juice. Taste for seasoning and add salt if desired.

 

Makes 6-8 servings. This soup freezes well.

 

Other recipes like this one: Roasted Squash Soup with Black Beans and Salsa, Squash and Pinto Bean Chili, Chorizo and Chipotle Chili

One year ago: Applesauce with Pumpkin and Spices, Roasted Squash Soup with Black Beans and Salsa

Bean There, Done That

I’ve tried black bean burger recipes before. The results were usually just fine in the flavor department, but sadly lacking where texture is concerned. Actually, they tended to resemble greasy black bean puddles rather than burgers, so I gave up for quite some time.

Later, I came across the concept of the bean (or lentil) croquette, sort of an elongated meatball (meatless, of course). Since they’re smaller, I thought they may not fall apart as the burger shapes do when I attempt to flip them. I then found an old recipe (from Eating Well magazine) for a black bean croquette, complete with southwest flavors. It even had instructions for baking rather than frying, so even if these fell apart, at least they wouldn’t be drowning in oil.

Of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and just try the recipe. I swapped out the tomatoes, pretty pathetic in the markets this time of year, with some bell pepper and green onion. They’re not exactly seasonal either, but they’re at least consistent through most of the year. I also consulted at least one other recipe for ideas on flavoring and thickening.

I decided on a combination of brown rice and bread crumbs to help the croquettes to hold together. Since I had some leftover cornbread in the freezer, I turned it into crumbs and pressed it into service. I also used those crumbs to coat the croquettes before baking. They add a nice crunch to the outside and a sweet flavor to the inside that I think is an improvement over plain breadcrumbs.

These might not go well on a bun, but I often find bean burgers on a bun kind of starchy and heavy anyway. What they do need, though, is a dipping sauce, and I’ve included the recipe of the one I put together. By a stroke of luck, the dipping sauce recipe only made a bit more than I needed for dipping. This just makes me look like I know what I’m doing. You know, bean…ahem…been there, done that.



Black Bean and Corn Croquettes
These are a good use of leftover cornbread and rice. You could also shape them into smaller balls to serve as an appetizer.

1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
½ cup finely chopped bell pepper, any color
1 ¼ teaspoon salt, divided
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups cornbread crumbs, divided
½ cup cooked brown rice, cooled
½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
a few splashes hot pepper sauce, to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cups home cooked or canned black beans (drained and rinsed if canned)

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Heat canola oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and ¼ teaspoon salt. Sautee until pepper just begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the green onions and garlic. Cook 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.


2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine ½ cup cornbread crumbs, rice, cheese, cumin, chili powder, cilantro, hot pepper sauce, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and cooked peppers, onions and garlic. Process until well combined and beginning to form large clumps.



3. Add the beans and corn. Pulse until well-combined, but some beans and corn are still distinguishable in the mixture.

4. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray or oil or line it with a silicone baking mat. Place the remaining 1 cup cornbread crumbs in a bowl or on a plate. Scoop up about ¼ cup of the bean mixture and use your hands to form into a log-shaped croquette. Dredge the croquette in the cornbread crumbs, pressing slightly to make the crumbs stick. Place on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture. You should get about 12 croquettes.

5. Bake at 425 fro 25 minutes or until the crumb coating is golden brown and the croquettes are firm enough to move without falling apart. Serve with Cilantro Cream Dipping Sauce (see recipe below).

Makes about 4 servings.

Cilantro Cream Dipping Sauce

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lime juice
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
2 green onions, finely chopped

1. Combine all ingredients and stir well to combine. Chill until ready to serve.

Serve with Black Bean and Corn Croquettes.

Still Learning to Love the Beet

Perhaps I still don’t like beets, but I am making progress, and you can’t say I’m not trying. Usually if there is a food one does not care for, one may just ignore it, but the beets will go on as long as I subscribe to this CSA. I really like these Beet and Carrot Burgers, and I’ll roast beets with other vegetables, so I decided I was ready to try something a little more bold. I still could only tolerate "safety" beet recipes, but I was getting braver.




Well, when one considers this dish, which is based on a variation of a recipe in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, unique may be a better word than bold. It combines black beans, oranges and beets in a slightly sweet, somewhat fruity, but still earthy concoction that probably could be categorized as a stew. I figured it was worth a shot. If I didn’t like beets anyway, I really couldn’t ruin them by trying this dish.



I tried it a few times last year, and decided it needed more orange and some spice and that the beets needed to cook longer than in the original recipe. I tried partially cooking the beets a couple different ways, and I think a combination of pre-cooking them in the microwave and sautéing them with the aromatics and peppers before simmering is probably the best way to go. The recipe below includes instructions for that.

This dish has kind of a funky color to it from the beets and the red wine. Perhaps it would be welcome on a slightly spooky Halloween table. It’s good served over rice or with cornbread or corn muffins. Sure, I can taste the beets in the dish, but I can handle it once again. Gosh, I seem to be becoming less of a beetroot hater with each dish I try. Who knows? Maybe next I can tackle my dislike of pineapple on pizza….don’t count on it.

Black Beans with Beets and Oranges Recipe
Based on a recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

I like to cook dried beans for dishes like this, but canned beans are just fine. You may have to adjust the amount of salt in the recipe depending on the style of beans you use.

1 cup peeled and diced (1/2-inch) beets
2 oranges
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, preferably red, yellow or orange (green is fine), chopped
1 teaspoon salt, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small chile pepper, seeds and ribs removed, minced
½ cup dry red wine
3 cups black beans with 1 cup cooking liquid, or canned black beans, undrained
2 teaspoons ground cumin
chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

1. Place the diced beets in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high 2 minutes.

2. Peel one orange. Set the peel aside. Section and chop the orange and set aside. Juice the second orange and set the juice aside.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, partially cooked beets, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook 8 minutes, or until onion and pepper are softened and beginning to brown, stirring often. Add the garlic and chile pepper and cook 1 minute more.

4. Add the red wine and cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the beans and their liquid, the orange peel, cumin and remaining salt. (If you are using canned beans, you may want to taste the dish before adding all of the salt.) Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook about 30 minutes, or until beets are tender.

5. Remove the orange peel. Stir in the orange juice and chopped orange sections. Taste for salt and add more if necessary. Serve with rice or cornbread or corn muffins.

Makes 5 or 6 servings.

Corn and Bean Salad

Nothing quite says summer like bags, boxes, bins, truck beds and trailers full of sweet corn. We get ours through our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which, if nothing else, saves me the agony of deciding how much to buy, since what is in the box is what we get. I always get a thrill out of seeing those dark green leaves tightly gift-wrapped around their (always) sweet packages of cream and yellow with their corn-silk ribbons waiting at the bottom of the box. “Oh, for me? You shouldn’t have.”

But I play just coy with my corn. I have no intention of being bashful when it comes to ripping open those packages, boiling (or even grilling) them just until the kernels are plump (about 5 minutes), then slathering them with butter and sprinkling on just a bit of salt. The rest of the scene is a bit primal with the traditional munching and tearing of the kernels directly from the cob. There’s always someone at the table who has a bit of kernel just there on his cheek, but you don’t want to be the one to tell him, partly because you enjoy a good joke, partly because you admire, maybe even envy, his exuberance.

And then, there’s the question of whether you should ever cut corn from a cob and eat it in any other than its attached state. (Of course, if your front teeth aren’t up to the challenge, there’s really no question at all.) I suppose I’d always vote for the cob when I can get really fresh corn in season. After all, if you want detached corn, it’s pretty cheap and easy to get it canned or frozen. But if there’s plenty of fresh corn, and there’s also some great Sun Gold cherry tomatoes from the CSA, and I can get bell peppers in colors of half the rainbow, maybe it’s okay to cut some corn off the cob, toast it a bit in a pan and make a salad.

I first made this corn and black bean salad with peppers and cherry tomatoes a little while back when I was entertaining relatives with a grilled fajita dinner. At the time I used red grape tomatoes and yellow and orange bell peppers, and it was a really pretty salad. Of course I neglected to photograph it. That gave me an excuse to make it again, but I used green pepper, and somehow only ended up with the lackluster photo below. Oh well, it was still good.

I even made this with frozen corn, and it was just fine. In fact, the frozen corn was a bit easier to brown in a pan, but fresh corn is so nice and sweet, the salad really had a different flavor. I recommend tasting the final product before serving and adding additional salt and vinegar if your corn is really sweet. Whether you’re starting with cobs or kernels, this salad is easy, visually appealing, and tastes like summer in a bowl.

Corn and Black Bean Salad with Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes
In a dish like this, the exact measurement of the ingredients isn’t so important. Use what you have and enjoy summer!
1 ½ cups corn kernels (cut from 3 to 4 cobs, or thawed if frozen)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon honey
1 garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and well rinsed
½ cup finely-chopped bell pepper
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
½ cup chopped green onions (scallions)
1 small chile pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cook corn in a skillet over medium heat until most of its liquid has evaporated and some kernels begin to brown, about 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, combine the vinegar, chili power, coriander, cumin and honey. On a cutting board, sprinkle the salt on the minced garlic. Chop together, then press the salt into the garlic repeatedly with the side of a large knife to form a paste. (Alternatively, crush the garlic and salt together in a mortar and pestle.) Add the pasted garlic to the vinegar mixture.

3. Add the olive oil to the vinegar mixture and whisk well to combine completely. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and toss well to coat with the dressing. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Taste before serving and add vinegar or salt if desired (especially if the corn is especially sweet).

Makes about 6 side-dish servings.