Thursday, September 24, 2009

Beans, Beans, Beans

Given that we don't eat meat (well, most of the time), we get most of our protein from beans and soy. When Tamar's cousin and her friend, both from Israel, came by on Monday night, we decided to give them a taste of Southwestern American cuisine. We served them black bean soup, cornbread, and sweet corn on the cob, all of which led to a fun conversation about how much food differs between here and Israel, and their questioning of why we serve "cake" with soup...

Hearty Black Bean Soup (vegan)

1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 small/medium onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, core and seeds removed, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 15 oz cans black beans with liquid
1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes in juice
1 3/4 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
2 tsp or so of cumin
1 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, sautee over medium heat celery, carrots, onion, jalapeno and garlic in olive oil (two-ish drizzles around the pot of oil shoudl be enough) and add in cumin and cayenne. Once onion becomes fairly translucent and garlic takes on a light brown color, add in the beans, tomatoes and broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Place bay leaf on top, re-cover, and let simmer for about 45 minutes.
Remove bay leaf, and use hand or standing blender to blend about half of the soup, depending on how chunky you like it. Once blended, let simmer for a while longer (about 15 minutes or so).
This tastes even better as leftovers, once all the flavors have really set in.

Makes about 6 large servings.

2 comments:

  1. This is pretty similar to the black bean soup I make- only difference is that I put some salsa in instead of canned tomatoes, and I don't put any of the veggies in. I really like topping it with cheddar cheese and pretzels (yeah, I know the pretzel thing is weird, but don't knock it until you try it!).

    Emily

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  2. Yeah Em was thinking of yours when we made it... I think the diced tomatoes + garlic + jalapenos basically equated to a salsa, so it reminded me of yours!

    And the pretzels. ha! I totally forgot about your weird habit.

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