cooking

Black Bean Veggie Soup

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Been awhile since I posted recipes!  This one is a wonderful soup that’s sweet, tasty, and has a tough of spice to it. This is a go-to soup for me because it’s always worth making.

Makes 4 servings.

1 Tbs. olive oil
About 1 cup chopped onion (1 small)
About 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (1 small)
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
1 TBSP chili powder
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
11/2 cups cooked black beans, or 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup green peas (frozen or fresh)
1 cup finely chopped carrots/grated
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp dried cilantro or 1/4 cup chopped.
2 Tbs. lime juice

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in the pot you plan to cook in (you can also use a BIG wok or frying pan to make the whole thing). Sautee onion and red pepper until softened.
  2. Add garlic and chili powder to pan, sautee for 3 minutes.
  3. Add broth, beans, peas, carrots, corn, and bay leaf. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cook for 20 minutes to heat through.
  4. Remove bay leaf. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Bring to simmer while stirring, serve.

This soup really is good any time of the year, and acts as a light main course, and could also be a good side dish. As a main course, I find it goes excellent with a salad that has a good dressing.

Notes:

  • The amount of chili powder may seem a lot for a mild soup, but it blends in well.
  • The sautéed onion and bell pepper actually add a kind of sweet taste, further amplified by the carrots and corn.
  • The key to this recipes taste is the order you cook things in. Note how things are cooked in different orders and added at different phases.

Catalan-Style Beans

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This is a recipe for a basic spanish/Catalonian-type bean dish, a variant of one I saw in a cookbook and did my own version of (mostly to make it simpler and easier).  It’s not perfect, but it came out darn good the first time – more below.

Catalan-Style Beans

  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 4 large tomatoes, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, dices
  • 1 1/2 tbsp crushed garlic (about 4 big cloves)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground thyme
  • generous pinch cinnamon
  • 3 cups (2 cans) of white beans or garbanzos, low-sodium
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Mix all ingredients except beans in a skillet.  Sautee for 3 minutes to allow blend, cover, lower heat.  Cook 10 minutes, simmering.
  3. Place beans on bottom of a 2 quart baking dish, spread out evenly.
  4. Cover beans with tomato mixture.
  5. Place in oven, cook uncovered for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.
  6. Serve.

This freeze and reheats well – in fact the flavor may improve after a bit of reheating – don’t overdo reheating it, the beans can get a bit soft if you use navy beans.

This recipe was pretty good the first time, with a simple flavor, nice fragrance, a bit of a zippy kick from the tomatoes and garlic.  A nice, light main course.  It needs some tweaking – the flavor could use a bit of depth and I think there may have been a bit much liquid – but it’s one of those recipes where the first time showed there’s something to this.

Improvement-wise I’m thinking of: less olive oil, uncovering the mix during the simmer phase to reduce fluid, and cooking at a slightly lower temperature.  I have also tried it with paprika (not sure) and some red pepper (which was good).

Also it’s easy to make after the initial sautee-and-simmer, since it basically sits in the oven for an hour with an occasional stir!

Serving-wise I’ve had it with polenta, steamed garlic, and vinegared turnips.  Despite its kick, it works with vinegared food and other sours, and I think it goes good with greens.  The polenta worked due to sweetness, so it’d also probably go good with corn, peas, rice, and bread.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.