Amazing Black Bean Soup

As I stared into my cupboards this morning planning my weekly menu, I found a bag of dried black beans that had been there for awhile.  With those beans in mind, I started searching the apps on my phone for a recipe that I could use them in.  Normally, I would just soak them overnight, simmer them until they were done, then freeze them in baggies for use with tacos and in soups.  Today, I was looking for something different.  I found exactly what I was looking for on my Epicurious app. 

This soup is not a weeknight soup unless you have done some work ahead of time.  The beans need to be soaked either overnight or quick boiled and soaked for a couple hours.  This worked out perfectly for a Sunday afternoon at home.  While the whole process took several hours, a lot of that time the beans were just sitting on the stove soaking.  Total hands on time was probably about 45 minutes, divided between beginning, middle and end.

Black Bean Soup (makes 6 servings)
1 lb. dried black beans
8 slices bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 red or green pepper, diced
1 T. minced garlic
1 minced jalapeno or serrano, depending on how hot you want it (I had roasted serranos so I used one of those)
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. dried thyme or 1 t. fresh
1 bay leaf
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz),  do not drain
6 c. or more chicken broth (I used boxed this time)
 2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, juice squeezed out

Pick over and rinse beans.  For quick cook method, put beans in a pot and cover with 2 inches of water.  Bring to a boil, then shut off heat and let sit for an hour or two.  For slow cook method, cover beans with 2 inches of water and refrigerate overnight.  Either way, when beans are done soaking, drain and rinse them. 

Cook bacon in big soup pot over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until crispy.  Drain all but 1 T. of fat off the bacon, then add the onions, garlic and peppers along with the thyme, oregano and bay leaf.  Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until onion is softened, about five minutes.

Add beans, tomatoes and chicken broth, and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until beans are very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.  Discard bay leaf and stir in cilantro and lime juice. 

Even though it is the middle of December, our CSA membership to Red Goose Gardens came in handy once again.  I was able to raid the freezer for thyme, peppers and serranos and could have used some tomatoes if I had thought of it. 

I served this delicious soup with warmed flour tortillas, using the tortillas to scoop some of the stew out of the bowl.  It would also go well with some kind of quesadillas or just plain tortilla chips.

Next time I will cook this in a crock pot after the sauteing step, which will make this soup even easier.  If you like brothy soup, use more chicken broth.  We tend to like stews at our house, so I don't use a lot of broth or water in soup recipes.  The six cups I called for is half of what the original recipe said and it's about perfect for a really thick bean soup.  You could probably skip the cilantro with little effect, but the lime is my own addition and really adds something to the flavor.  I also added the can of tomatoes because I thought it would go well in this recipe and I was right.  If you don't have the tomatoes, you could go without.

My family absolutely loved this soup.  The kids inhaled their bowls and asked for more, wondering when I was going to make it again.  I agree that this is probably one of the best dinners I've made in a long time. 
I can't want to make this again soon and will make sure to double the recipe next time so there are some leftovers.  Yes, we ate a whole bag of dried beans for supper. Don't worry, as part-time vegetarians, we keep a supply of beano in the closet.

What to do with Tomatillos?

We have been getting loads of  tomatillos in our CSA boxes from Red Goose Gardens for the past few weeks. In Spanish, the word for tomatillo (tomato verde) literally means green tomato.  They are usually about the size of a golf ball, so a little smaller than most tomatoes.  They are used often in Mexican cooking and I tend to stay with that theme.  90% of the time, I make salsa verde out of the tomatillos.  First, I remove the papery covering, wash them and roast them in the oven to get good flavor out of them.


I roasted hot peppers at the same time, used a few for the recipe and froze the rest for later.  Not sure what I'm going to use them for, though.   

When they are cooled enough to handle, I make them into salsa verde.  There are many recipes for this out there, but this is my favorite: 

Salsa Verde

1 1/2 lb tomatillos

1/2 c. chopped white onion

1/2 c. cilantro leaves (I leave this out if I don't have it)

1 T.  lime juice

1/4 t. sugar

2 Jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded roasted (I roast them with the tomatillos)

Salt to taste

Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Store in refrigerator or freezes well in baggies. 

This salsa is often eaten with chips just like any other salsa, but I think it's a little sour for that.  As I said in a previous post about Chicken Enchiladas, I most often use this salsa as enchilada sauce.  This time, however, I used it as a base for Chicken Tomatillo Stew.  This recipe is a combination of recipes I found online, so I have a hard time citing my source.  My biggest influence is probably simplyrecipes.com once again. 

Chicken Tomatillo Stew
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 t. cumin

1 t. coriander

2 c. chicken stock (I had homemade but boxed or canned is fine)

2 c. salsa verde (you can buy this rather than make it)

1 t. oregano

2 T. chopped cilantro

Heat about 2 T. of oil in a big soup pot over medium heat.  Add cubed chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper.  Brown chicken on all sides.  Remove chicken.  Heat a little more olive oil in the pot, then add the onions, cumin and coriander, cooking until onions start to soften.  Add back the chicken, then add chicken stock, tomatillo sauce and oregano.  Heat to simmering, then cook for about 20 minutes longer until chicken is done.  Stir in cilantro right before serving.  Serve over rice and topped with sour cream to cool down if the spice from the jalapenos in the salsa verde is a little much for you.

I forgot to remove the seeds from the peppers before I made the salsa so ours was pretty spicy.  I think the girls had just as much sour cream as stew in their bowls, but they both said they liked. it.  Everyone agreed that this recipe can be added to our regular rotation.  It's a great way to use all that salsa verde in the freezer!

Add a little spice to your life!

I love my crockpot!  Just the other day I used it to cook up a huge batch of dry navy beans, which I then portioned into baggies and put in the freezer.  I often use it to make a roast or reheat soup from the freezer.  Twice in the last few weeks, I have used it to make chicken taco filling for enchiladas.   A little work earlier in the day or the night before pays off huge when you walk in the house and smell dinner cooking.  While I love to cook, there are some days when it's so nice to not have to put a lot of effort into supper.  

Chicken Taco Meat
2-3 frozen chicken breasts (I used 2 huge ones, just use common sense)
1 packet of taco seasoning
1-2 c. chunky salsa (however much you like)
1/2 c. water

Sprinkle the taco seasoning in the bottom of the crock pot.  Top with the chicken breasts.  Pour the salsa and water over the chicken breasts.  Cook for 4 hours on low.  Shred chicken with a fork. 


Before cooking.  It took about three minutes to get it all together. 
Just turn on the crock pot and walk away.  It takes care of itself!

I use the meat for chicken enchiladas, but it would be even easier just to make chicken tacos out of it.  This would be great for a taco bar when company comes over.  You can do all the prep in advance and just enjoy the conversation and a margarita.  This recipe could be easily doubled, you would probably just need to increase the cook time.   

After a few hours on low.  All I did was mash/shred the meat with a fork. 

Chicken Enchiladas 
8-10 flour tortillas
Chicken taco meat
Enchilada sauce (I  use homemade frozen salsa verde, but red or green sauce from a can would work, too.)
Shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.  Spray bottom and sides of 9 x 13 pan with nonstick spray.  Put some meat filling in each tortilla, amount depends on how big the tortillas are. Place enchiladas in pan, seam side down.  Top with salsa verde or enchilada sauce.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Cover with foil (I always spray with nonstick spray so it doesn't stick to the cheese) and bake for about 30 minues. 

These are delicious fresh out of the oven, but also reheat well for lunch the next day.  They can also be assembled in advance and refrigrated until you're ready to bake them.  I like to serve them with chips and salsa and  black beans on the side.  Sometimes I put the beans inside the enchiladas, it just depends on my mood and memory. 

I like a recipe that's flexible and this one definitely is.   So take my recipe and make it yours.  Enjoy!