Jen's Version
(Acworth, GA)
I know, we just hooray-ed for Spring, and I go and choose warm and cozy black bean soup??!! Why would I do that?! Well, you can thank GA's bipolar weather. We had freezing temps, mid-April. More importantly, we had freezing temps and I had already packed away winter clothes. I saw the forecast, almost simultaneous to seeing Ree's black bean soup FB update and supper club dinner night was decided.
I love soup. I don't even apologize for eating broccoli cheddar soup in the summer. I don't generally enjoy black beans, being the harder bean of the bean family, but this whole concoction just looked too good to pass up.
I know, we just hooray-ed for Spring, and I go and choose warm and cozy black bean soup??!! Why would I do that?! Well, you can thank GA's bipolar weather. We had freezing temps, mid-April. More importantly, we had freezing temps and I had already packed away winter clothes. I saw the forecast, almost simultaneous to seeing Ree's black bean soup FB update and supper club dinner night was decided.
I love soup. I don't even apologize for eating broccoli cheddar soup in the summer. I don't generally enjoy black beans, being the harder bean of the bean family, but this whole concoction just looked too good to pass up.
You all will be proud - I didn't go the lazy route. Well, the laziest route. I did a quick soak BUT I didn't buy canned black beans like I really, really wanted to. (I regretted this later...)
So after I soaked the beans, I added the broths and water. Another reason I picked this recipe is because I had chicken broth left over from my risotto. Turned out I needed more than 1 cup, so ended up buying vegetable broth. Story of my life...
Added beautiful peppers and onions and garlic..mmh
Got it to a nice, roaring boil then covered it and turned heat down to low. This is when I read the actual directions all the way through and determined my dinner wouldn't be ready until 8.
I must say though, the soup was the bomb! Flavor was on point. Only complaint for me are the hard beans. I will do pinto next time :)
So after I soaked the beans, I added the broths and water. Another reason I picked this recipe is because I had chicken broth left over from my risotto. Turned out I needed more than 1 cup, so ended up buying vegetable broth. Story of my life...
Added beautiful peppers and onions and garlic..mmh
Got it to a nice, roaring boil then covered it and turned heat down to low. This is when I read the actual directions all the way through and determined my dinner wouldn't be ready until 8.
After an hour and a half, I added the seasonings. Then I started texting Val about how stupid I am...
That's probably hard to follow - but you get the point. We had NO IDEA WHAT WE WERE DOING!
Black Bean Soup
Prep Time: 2 to 8 hours
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 4 to 10 hours
Ingredients:
1 pound Dried Black Beans
Aidell's Chicken Sausage
4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth/Vegtable Broth
2 cups Water
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1/2 Medium Onion, Diced
1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1-1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1-1/2 teaspoon Cumin
Topping Options:
Sour Cream
Goat Cheese Crumbles
Avocado, diced
Lime Wedges
Corn Tortillas Strips
Directions:
Place the beans in a bowl or pot, cover with cold water, and allow to soak overnight *OR* add beans to a medium pot and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, then boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the beans to sit for 1 hour. Drain the beans and rinse them with cold water.
In a crock pot, add beans, chicken stock, water, onions, and bell peppers. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Then, add salt, chili powder, and cumin and stir. Cover and continue simmering for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the liquid level is to your liking (anywhere from very thick to a thinner soup is fine!)
Taste for seasoning and add more of what it needs. Serve soup in a bowl with whatever toppings you prefer!
4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth/Vegtable Broth
2 cups Water
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1/2 Medium Onion, Diced
1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1-1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1-1/2 teaspoon Cumin
Topping Options:
Sour Cream
Goat Cheese Crumbles
Avocado, diced
Lime Wedges
Corn Tortillas Strips
Directions:
Place the beans in a bowl or pot, cover with cold water, and allow to soak overnight *OR* add beans to a medium pot and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, then boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the beans to sit for 1 hour. Drain the beans and rinse them with cold water.
In a crock pot, add beans, chicken stock, water, onions, and bell peppers. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Then, add salt, chili powder, and cumin and stir. Cover and continue simmering for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the liquid level is to your liking (anywhere from very thick to a thinner soup is fine!)
Taste for seasoning and add more of what it needs. Serve soup in a bowl with whatever toppings you prefer!
Val's Version
(Denver, CO)
Leave it up to my sister to call us out. I mean, I wouldn't have lied, but I wouldn't have put our lack of culinary skills on blast either. On another note ...
Happy National Bean Week!!!!
It's not really (I don't think), but one would argue that in our house. I made a white bean turkey chili on Sunday (High of 26 and 3-5" of snow) and then 2 days later (mid-50's with sunny skies), whipped up this concoction of dark mysterious pods. That's what beans are really. Pods. Or seeds. They are one of the longest cultivated plants, according to Wikipedia. Today I just see them as stubborn, hard, staining, New World protein.
My CaliBug has been begging me to make gumbo. So, when Jen was overzealous for us preparing this black bean soup, I had the idea to turn it into a gumbo. I will most likely use red beans next time, but this allowed me the opportunity to explore other options. That's what cooking's all about anyway, right? Being creative …
I, however, did not cheat. Not at all. Big mistake. I soaked hundreds of minions for close to 13 hours. In theory, they shoud've been soft and tender. Ready to indulge. Not the case.
Leave it up to my sister to call us out. I mean, I wouldn't have lied, but I wouldn't have put our lack of culinary skills on blast either. On another note ...
Happy National Bean Week!!!!
It's not really (I don't think), but one would argue that in our house. I made a white bean turkey chili on Sunday (High of 26 and 3-5" of snow) and then 2 days later (mid-50's with sunny skies), whipped up this concoction of dark mysterious pods. That's what beans are really. Pods. Or seeds. They are one of the longest cultivated plants, according to Wikipedia. Today I just see them as stubborn, hard, staining, New World protein.
My CaliBug has been begging me to make gumbo. So, when Jen was overzealous for us preparing this black bean soup, I had the idea to turn it into a gumbo. I will most likely use red beans next time, but this allowed me the opportunity to explore other options. That's what cooking's all about anyway, right? Being creative …
I, however, did not cheat. Not at all. Big mistake. I soaked hundreds of minions for close to 13 hours. In theory, they shoud've been soft and tender. Ready to indulge. Not the case.
I thought it would be a brilliant idea to cook this up in a crockpot since I had company and didn't really want to fiddle with the higher maintenance approach. Clearly I should have just followed the initial recipe and I wouldn't be complaining.
I omitted the yellow pepper because I was being cheap.
Kinda glad I did cause it made me all warm and fuzzy and made me think of CHRISTMAS!
Then I diced up some sweet yellow onion and sausage. Added it to the crockpot with other seasonings and broth and beans. That made me just think of pork and beans. Not a huge fan. Unless it's Jen's version of Pork and Pintos!
This is where it went all crazy. I had to do an hour on High and then over 4 hours on Low. The beans just weren't softening. I was also impatient cause I was sooooooo hungry. Next time, I'll plug this in at noon and should be good - to - go.
Since this was a gumbo-ish version, we did shredded chedda, a dollop of sour cream and tortilla strips over a bed of rice. Very flavorful!
Black Bean Soup
Prep Time: 2 to 8 hours
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 4 to 10 hours
Ingredients:
1 pound Dried Black Beans
Sausage
4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 cups Water
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
1-1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1-1/2 teaspoon Cumin
FIXINS
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
Corn Tortillas Strips (also known as salad toppers)
Directions:
Place the beans in a bowl or pot, cover with cold water, and allow to soak overnight *OR* add beans to a medium pot and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, then boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the beans to sit for 1 hour. Drain the beans and rinse them with cold water.
In a crock pot, add beans, chicken broth, water, onions, and bell peppers. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Then, add salt, chili powder, and cumin and stir. Cover and continue simmering for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the liquid level is to your liking (anywhere from very thick to a thinner soup is fine!) DO IT THIS WAY! Or, be adventurous (and time consuming) like me, and cook on High for 1 hour, Low for 4+ hours.
Taste for seasoning and add more of what it needs. Serve soup in a bowl with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla strips.
4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 cups Water
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
1-1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1-1/2 teaspoon Cumin
FIXINS
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
Corn Tortillas Strips (also known as salad toppers)
Directions:
Place the beans in a bowl or pot, cover with cold water, and allow to soak overnight *OR* add beans to a medium pot and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, then boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the beans to sit for 1 hour. Drain the beans and rinse them with cold water.
In a crock pot, add beans, chicken broth, water, onions, and bell peppers. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Then, add salt, chili powder, and cumin and stir. Cover and continue simmering for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the liquid level is to your liking (anywhere from very thick to a thinner soup is fine!) DO IT THIS WAY! Or, be adventurous (and time consuming) like me, and cook on High for 1 hour, Low for 4+ hours.
Taste for seasoning and add more of what it needs. Serve soup in a bowl with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla strips.
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