More Food

I don't know what it is with me and food lately, but I've made a few things that I've enjoyed emmensely, and they really are so good that I feel it important to share. This is a Columbian Black Bean Soup - sounds kinda boring, but is super tasty. I've had the recipe for a long time, but neglected to make it because it called for some fairly gourmet ingredients as well as dried beans and I always forget to soak them overnight. I finally decided I should just try it with some easy substitutions and see what happened. The result is easy and amazingly delicious. So good, in fact, that I've now made it twice in 2 weeks! (I've also made a couple more batches of my amazing muffins). It is very full of Spanish flavors. If you like tacos and enjoy cilantro, you've got to try it! It's super healthy, too, which is also a bonus.

So, here's my "version" of the recipe:
1 1/2 c dried black beans (place in a saucepan to soak in the AM and they're ready to cook by dinner time)
1 t cayenne pepper
6 c water
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 T olive oil
1 meduim onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 bag frozen pepper strips, chopped into small dice
1 celery stalk, diced
salt
freshly groud black pepper
3 T orange juice
3 T lime juice
green onion, sliced
cilantro, chopped

1. Drain the soaked beans and place in a medium saucepan with the cayenne pepper and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower heat, and simmer for an hour and a half, partially covered, until tender. Remove 1 1/2 cups of the beans with a slotted spoon to a blender. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid and blend until smooth. Return the puree to the bean pot.

2. Warm the oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onions and garlic and saute over medium-low heat for 7 minutes, or until the onions are softened. Add the cumin, peppers and celery and cook an additional 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

3. Add a couple of ladles of beans with cooking liquid to the saute pan an simmer a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen any bits sticking to the pan. Stir the contents of the saute pan back into the bean pot.

4. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a sprinkle of black pepper and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes. Stir n the range and lime juices and add salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with cilantro and green onions.


P.S. I'm sure you could use canned black beans if you wanted to make it even easier, but I have found that the texture of the dried beans is really nice.

P.S. 2 Mom, you guys will really like this one.