Water should be twice as high as beans. Leave beans in water overnight. Photo #2 shows beans after soaking
Pour beans into large pot. Add another half-gallon of water. Bring beans to a boil. Boil for one minute. Remove beans from stove. Strain the beans through a large colander. Wash off beans and pot. Put beans back in the pot.
Beans in Pot
Washing the Beans
Add: 8 Cups Vegetable Stock 2 Cups Water
Bring beans back to a boil. Turn heat down to a slow simmer. Simmer gently for one hour.
Note: At some point during the cooking or blending process you may need to add another one or two cups of water.
The Vegetables: 12 Garlic Cloves 1 Onion 1 Green Pepper 2 Carrots 3 Chipotle Peppers
Mince the garlic. Small dice the onions, green peppers, and carrots. On a plate, mince chipotle peppers (they will stain your cutting board).
After the soup has simmered for an hour, add vegetables. Continue simmering.
Chipotle Peppers
Spices
The Spices: 2 TBS Dark Chile powder 1 TBS Cumin, ground 1 tsp Salt 1 tsp Italian Spices 1/2 oz Cilantro Leaves, fresh
Add spices after the vegetables have been simmering for 30 minutes. Continue simmering for an additional 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Total cooking time should be approximately 2 hours. Beans should be soft and broken open upon completion. Some beans may need an extra half hour of cooking.
Cilantro Leaves
Beans in Blender
Place 5 cups cooked beans in blender. Purée and return to soup. Repeat this process twice. Most beans will be puréed. Adjust seasoning for salt. Add a bit more water if needed. Serve or chill. Garnish as desired.
New Taste Thinking:
I used to make this soup by cooking a fair amount of chopped bacon in the pot and cooking the vegetables in bacon fat. As a result, the soup was full of bacon fat and cooked bacon, which is typical of black bean soup. Some recipes call for the addition of chorizo sausage as well.
I also used to make this soup with chicken stock and serve it with a dollop of sour cream. Now I use vegetable stock and simply garnish the soup with diced onion, chopped cilantro, and sometimes a bit more of the chipotle pepper.
I honestly like the New Taste version of this soup much better. If you were to taste the old recipe and the new recipe side by side, you would notice how clean and natural the new recipe tastes compared to the old.
I like to garnish the soup with onion, cilantro and also red pepper sauce, if you have some on hand. I like to add chipotle pepper to the red pepper sauce and mix it into the soup.
Serving Size 1 Cup Servings Per Recipe 16 Calories 82 Calories from Fat 6 Total Fat 1g Saturated Fat 0g Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 1061mg Total Carbohydrate 15g Dietary Fiber 5g Sugars 2g Protein 5g
