Black Bean Soup

This is one of my favorite soup recipes, it is absolutely delicious. The great thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to soak the beans beforehand since you’ll be cooking it in the slow cooker for several hours. You can also soak your beans for an hour or two and either cook it over the stove top or in a dutch oven.  I soaked my beans overnight and started my cooking process on the stove top and moved it to the oven.

This recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium-size red onions, chopped
• 1 medium-size red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 16-ounce package dried black beans
• 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chiles* (I skipped this cause I didn’t want it to be spicy)
• 7 cups hot water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and both bell peppers and sauté until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; stir 1 minute. Transfer mixture to 6-quart slow cooker (I moved mine to the oven). Add beans and chipotles, then 7 cups hot water (I don’t think I added this much water, it seemed too much). Cover and cook on high until beans are very tender, about 6 hours. Transfer 2 cups bean mixture to blender; puree until smooth. Return puree to remaining soup in slow cooker (I pureed mine with an immersion blender). Stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Spoon dollop of yogurt into each bowl (I skipped the yogurt and added fresh cilantro). Sprinkle with tomatoes and cilantro and serve.

*Chipotle chiles canned in a spicy tomato sauce, sometimes called adobo, are available at Latin American markets and many supermarkets.

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