Easy & Healthy Black Bean Soup with a Kick

If “Chicken Soup “is good for the soul, then “Black Bean Soup” is good for the heart. Beans and legumes add fiber and nutritional value to meals — they are “heart healthy.” Recently, I ate the best version of “Black Bean Soup” at a local Mexican restaurant, La Carreta. I’m not sure why, but the soup just “hit the spot.” It had a flavorful broth, just enough black beans, and a bit of “hot” seasoning. I’ve been on a “kick” at home now making a quick and easy version of the soup — substituting in ingredients that are available in my kitchen. The soup is mighty tasty — and if you’ve never cared for black beans; I suggest trying my soup recipe.

Black beans have a milder flavor than other types of dried beans such as blackeye peas, Navy beans and red kidney beans; black beans are easy on the palate. It is worth the effort to try to include black beans in meals. Black beans are a legume like other dried beans and are high in fiber and protein, contain antioxidants, iron, folic acid, Vitamin B6 and other nutrients. A good bean soup can provide lots of nutritional value to a person’s meals.

Saturday Lunches

My interest in soups dates back to growing up in a home where nothing was wasted. Saturday lunch was always a “soup and sandwich” meal. My mother threw all the leftovers from the week into a pot and came up with “soup.” Usually the conglomeration included chicken plus vegetables plus noodles. There was no “recipe” — every week had a different soup. And the sandwiches? Why, bolona sandwiches, of course. Something I haven’t eaten in years!

This soup recipe can be varied, too. For example, make it vegan by using vegetable broth and omitting the ham. Add other vegetables such as celery and bell peppers. Substitute chorizo for the ham. Add some cilantro when serving.

Alternatively, I’ve made a very simple black bean soup — skipping most of the vegetable seasonings. At the end of cooking, mash most of the black beans to make a delicous and creamy soup.

A Good Soup Recipe and Short-Cuts

My goal today was to make a quick and easy soup — but still a “knock-out” soup with lots of flavor and vegetables, a rich and tasty broth and a soothing quality. I took a couple of short-cuts in making the soup.

For broth and flavor, I used purchased “low sodium” chicken broth rather than homemade broth. (This broth still contains plenty of sodium, so no need to add extra salt.) Plus, I snuck in small chunks of smoked ham for flavor. The Mexican restaurant probably used sausage — however, I perfer leaner ham.

In my recipe, the black beans are the canned variety — not dried beans. This saved time and effort. One tip here is to drain and completely rinse the liquid off the canned beans prior to adding to the soup. This liquid contains water, salt and starch which is released from the beans during canning. It gives a strong, starchy flavor to the soup which we don’t need.

The Mexican restaurant’s soup had a “kick” to it. I added Serrano peppers — which are often used in Mexican cuisine. These small, elongated peppers are from my backyard garden. I had a bounty of these peppers and froze the extras. When thawed, they are soft but still have flavor. They can be stored this way for a couple of months. (The Serrano peppers from grocery stores are much larger.) However, if you don’t want a “hot” kick, substitute in 1/2 green bell pepper or Poblano pepper.

For seasonings, I added onions, garlic and and carrots along with the Serrano peppers. These added flavor and sustance to the bean soup. What is not in the soup? I didn’t add tomato paste or any spices such as cumin or black pepper. The flavor comes from the vegetable seasonings and Serrano peppers.

Making the “One-Pot” Soup Recipe

In this recipe, everything is cooked in one pot. I used approximately equal amounts of diced onions, carrots and ham and doubled the amount of canned black beans. (In my final recipe instructions, I only used two cans of black beans — scaled down from three cans.)

Get all the ingredients chopped and diced up before starting to cook the soup. That takes a little time — then the rest is easy.

To make the recipe, saute the onions and carrots in oil in a heavy pot until the onions are translucent. Then add in the garlic, ham and serrano peppers and cook for a few additional minutes. Add the drained black beans and broth.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for an hour — more or less. Add water if the soup is too thick. Cooking slowly on the stove helps the flavors to meld together and make a flavorful broth. What is better than smelling the wonderful aromas of a soup or stew cooking on the stove?

And we have soup! Serve with corn tortilla chips and add cilantro and sour cream for garnish.

This is a delicious and hearty soup. It really makes a substantial lunch meal — although we always included sandwiches at home when growing up. Enjoy!