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Chili black bean soup

This soup is dramatic and delicious. The chilli and garlic give it a really strong flavor that’s also full of goodness. If you find dried beans too time consuming to cook, feel free to use canned beans.

Ingredients

8 oz beans (dried black beans)
4 lf bay leaf
2 T coriander (finely chopped)
4 T olive oil (red, thinly sliced)
4 clv garlic (peeled and crushed)
2 chili pepper (red, deseeded and thinly sliced)
1 cn tomato (14 oz can, organic chopped tomatoes)
1 pt broth (vegetable broth)

Instructions

Boil the beans for 10 minutes then drain. Rinse the saucepan to get rid of any remaining residue and return beans to pan.

Add the stock and bay leaves. Cover and simmer on low until tender. Warning, this will take approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. Add additional stock if necessary during this process.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the onion and chillies. Cook on low for approximately 4 minutes and add the garlic. Cook for a further one minute.

Add the chopped tomatoes to this mixture and stir together. Set aside.

Once the beans are fully cooked, add the tomatoe mixture to the beans and stock. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Let cool and strain beans. Discard bay leave and return stock to pan.

Place the beans and vegetables in a food process with a little reserved stock and blend on high for approximately 1 minute until smooth.

Place this mixture back in the pan with the reserved stock and mix together. Gently heat through and serve immediately.

Garnish with a few finely chopped spring onions and a dollop of crème fraiche.

Total time
2 hours, 15 minutes
Cooking time
120
Preparation time
15
Yield
4 servings

Notes

I can never remember to soak beans overnight but it’s not actually necessary. By rinsing the beans in cold water and boiling on high for 10 minutes - without any other ingredients - you’ll get the same effect.

Another trick to help get rid of the bloating and wind caused by eating beans is to add a small piece of chopped ginger to the water when boiling. Rapeseed oil may also be considered a healthy choice because it is rich in unsaturated fatty acids.

Black turtle beans or aduki beans work well with this soup, but you can also make this recipe into a red bean soup and use red kidney and pinto beans.

Source

North American cuisine

Serve at lunch time with bread and a salad.

moderate, simmer, sauté
beans & pulses, soups, lunch
American food recipes
Food in U.S.A.