Cuban Black Bean Soup

My mother in law gave me a crock pot for Christmas, so I decided to break it in this week end. I've been dying to try to make my own soup utilizing a crock pot, but finding good vegetarian + crock pot recipes = difficult. I finally found a good black bean soup recipe which made me very happy. I love Progresso's black bean soup, but I really don't love the $4 a can price tag. And when I'm sick, that's the only thing I want. So I figured I could probably make it at home & have enough to last a month for the same price. And happily, I was correct.

So, I made soup for the first time yesterday & it came out great! yaay!

I don't have a picture for this one because...well...it's not pretty. even with garnish, it's pretty ugly. But it tastes good! Although, next time, I plan on spicing it up a little more. I like my black bean soup to be good and spicy.

here's the recipe :

Cuban Black Bean Soup

1 Tbs olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
7 cloves garlic
1 pound dry black beans
5 cups water
3 cup vegetable broth
1 7-oz can diced green chilies
1 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayanne seasoning
2 bay leaves

Method:

Add olive oil to crock pot and turn on highest setting. Chop yellow onion and stir into olive oil. Cover and let cook while you chop bell pepper into 1 inch chunks. Stir in bell pepper.

Using a garlic press, crush garlic cloves directly into crock pot. (i don't have a garlic press. so i minced the garlic into tiny pieces & this worked just fine)

Stir and cover.

Rinse black beans in a colander. Add to crock pot along with water, broth, chilies, cumin, thyme, salt, pepper, cayanne seasoning and bay leaves. Cover and cook on high at least 8 hours.

Before serving, partially puree soup with a blender.

Mix until thick, but still with chunks of beans, onions and peppers visible. Ladle into 6 soup bowls.

Optional Garnish:
Top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream (about 1 Tbs), 1 tsp diced red bell pepper, 1 tsp diced white onion, and a sprinkling of finely chopped, fresh cilantro (about half a tablespoon).

Personally, I just sprinkled a little bit of taco flavored shredded cheese.