Simple Black Bean Soup

When I am trying to get my daughter to eat a meatless meal, the first thing that comes to mind is black beans and tex-mex flavors.  You can reserve some of the beans to use for other purposes and only make as much of this as you desire into the actual soup.  It is a great filling lunch at work the next day but there are a lot of other ways you can re-purpose the beans into totally new dishes.

1 pound dried black beans

2 onions, sliced lengthwise and then sliced thinly

1 bell pepper cut into 1/2 inches pieces

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon salt

Water

For serving (optional, dish is vegan and gluten free until these options)

Diced Monterey Jack cheese

Sour cream thinned with water

Flour tortilla sliced into 1/4 inch strips and either fried or baked and sprinkled with creole seasoning

Avocado, diced

Hot sauce 

Soak beans according to instructions. I use the quick soak method. After beans have been soaked and rinsed, add them to a large pot with 10 cups of water over high heat.  Add onion, garlic and bell pepper to pot along with cumin and cayenne pepper.  Bring to a full boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1/2 to 2 hours.  Check beans to make sure they are soft.  If you are serving the same night, add salt 20 minutes before the end of cooking.  If serving the next night, add salt during the cooling process.  Puree about 1 and half cups of the beans for creamy texture and add back to soup. For serving, add diced cheese to the bottom of the bowl, add hot soup. Top with thinned soup cream, hot sauce, diced avocado and tortilla strips and serve.

Variations:

Make it a non meatless meal by adding diced and sautéed spicy sausage such as chorizos.

Left overs:

The beans are great by themselves in any application that calls for black beans, tacos, empanadas, omelets, etcetera!