Black Bean Soup

One of the things I've been missing in my kitchen was some sort of blender/food processor. For years I've been using the Magic Bullet (you know, that infomercial 'party' where they make everything from appetizers to cocktails in those individual cups?) and it's worked great, until recently - it started smokin'!!!

So I've been avoiding buying a something chop-choppy, which in turn means I've been avoid making meals I need to pulse and puree. I've gotten away with some things by making them super chunky, just trying to pulverize things with my potato masher...but it wasn't quite the same. So, when my good friends from Maine joked about getting us a toaster for a wedding gift, I told them that we already have a shiny red toaster that we loved, HOWEVER, we could totally use a blender! And what do you know, a few days later, a beautiful shiny blender arrived. And we blended and pulsed and chopped and pureed frozen mixed drinks until we couldn't liquefy no more!

One thing I was most excited about was using the blender to make soup. And one soup that I love, but I don't have nearly enough, and have never made myself, is black bean soup. So here we have it.

Lately I've been trying to get into the habit of using dried beans. While canned beans are so practical and seem cheap, using dried beans is much healthier and even cheaper. The more I make them, the more I realize that they really aren't as time consuming as I thought. As long as you are menu planning your week, you'll be able to soak the beans ahead of time, overnight, and then cook when you get a chance, and save them for when you are ready to use them.

This black bean soup is very tasty. Since I used olive oil instead of bacon fat, and dried beans instead of canned, I added a bit more salt then you may normally need. I served this soup with white rice and cornbread, and it all made for excellent leftovers.

Black Bean Soup
Printable Recipe
By Have Recipes - Will Cook

• 1 tbsp bacon fat (or olive oil)
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• ½ sweet red pepper, chopped
• ½ tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp chipotle powder
• 4 14oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 3 cups chicken broth
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• Juice of one lime
• Salt to taste

1. Heat the bacon fat or olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
   
2. Add the onion and red pepper and cook until softened.
   
3. Add the cumin and chipotle powder, and heat for a minute, or until the spices are fragrant.
   
4. Add the black beans and the chicken both and bring to a boil. Add the cilantro.
   
5. In a blender or using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until it’s smooth.
   
6. Add the lime-juice and salt. Serve garnished with sour cream, minced sweet red pepper, and cilantro sprigs.