Black Bean & Chick Pea Soup with Sour Cream & Lime Topping

There’s no place like home. 

This past week I spent five long days in Puerto Rico. You may think that this is awesome, but I was there for work and was without my two kids and husband for that time. In addition, the travel time to get to Puerto Rico was about 12 hours (12 hours to get home as well), and the weather wasn’t even stellar (although it was definitely better than the weather in Toronto).

I missed my kids, my husband, my dog, even the hamsters. What I also missed was the ability to cook my own food. It’s one thing to go out for a dinner here, a breakfast there...but 5 days of that is tough. Especially when one is a vegetarian and Puerto Ricans love meat!

I arrived home late on Saturday night and the first thing I did on Sunday was to figure out what food I would prepare that day. I looked in the pantry to see what was there and spied some black beans. You’d think there would be lots of beans on hand in Puerto Rico, and there were, but they all had pork mixed in with them.

I decided to make a black bean soup so I turned to one of my newer cookbooks to check out the recipes. I found one that looked good in Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen. The King of Soup was heading out to watch the Super Bowl with his buddies, but before he left he was kind enough to prep all the veggies for me (what a Prince, I mean King).

I started cooking and went to the pantry to get the beans. Uh oh, only one can and the recipe called for 3. How about some chick peas instead? Sure! Why not?

Here is my soup, adapted from Deborah Madison’s recipe.

Ingredients:

1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (original recipe calls for 3 cans of beans and no chick peas)

1 14 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large, sweet onion, finely diced

2 small carrots, finely diced

3 celery ribs, finely diced

1 green bell pepper, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 bunch of cilantro, stems finely sliced and leaves more roughly chopped

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika, or more to taste

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp cayenne, or more to taste (I think it needs more)

Topping:

½ cup sour cream

Juice of ½ lime, or more to taste (I used one full lime and I think I might even add more lime to the actual soup)

Pinch of salt (I added freshly ground pepper as well)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a medium-sized pot (I used my cast iron Le Creuset). Sauté the diced veggies and cilantro stems over medium-high heat until the onion has softened (stir often). Add 1 tsp salt and then add the cumin, paprika, bay leaves, and cayenne. Lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes more. Stir every couple of minutes and try not to let the spices burn.

Add 1 cup of water and cook for another 8 minutes or so.

Add the beans and the chick peas, another cup or more of water (original recipe does not call for additional water, but I felt it needed it to truly simmer), and 3 tbsp of the chopped cilantro leaves. Cook for about 20 minutes. Taste, and add salt and pepper as required.

Mix the sour cream, lime juice, the rest of the cilantro leaves and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl.

Puree the soup using a hand blender (original recipe does not call for pureeing). Serve hot with a dollop of the sour cream mixture on top. (I think toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds would also be great with this soup.)

P.S. I did have the chance to eat an excellent Puerto Rican staple called Mofungo (fried plantain and garlic mash). I plan to do some research and test out my own recipe so stay tuned to this space...

Classic Vegetable Soup

I haven’t posted in a while. We’ve had a hard summer and the desire to post has just not been there. I am looking forward to forgetting all about this summer so it’s nice that Mother Nature is cooperating. The air is getting cooler. Our central air conditioning unit broke (again) last week and we haven’t felt the urgency to get it fixed. The past few mornings I have sent my kids to camp with hoodies on, and in the evening the breeze picks up and I enjoy the sight of the curtains billowing about the windowsills.

Logically, as it cools down outside, we feel the need to warm up inside. What better way to  accomplish that than with a piping hot delicious homemade soup?

Soup time is one of my favourite times of year, largely because The King of Soup starts to make some of his masterpieces again. The KoS is quite open to suggestions so I find myself browsing through cookbooks and websites, and proposing new options weekly. This process works well for me.

Even though I love when The KoS cooks, I also enjoy making soup myself. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it’s not technical, and you can generally combine many things that are already in your refrigerator and end up with something quite yummy.

This recipe came from my head, and was not prepared by The KoS. It’s a classic vegetable soup with some extra protein in the form of chick peas. And it was delicious.

Ingredients:

2 large carrots, sliced

2 large stalks celery, sliced

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed (14 oz can) (or you could use lentils)

1 large can diced tomatoes (or take fresh tomatoes and pulse them a few times in the food processor)

A couple of handfuls of green beans, cut into 1 inch sections

Any other vegetables you want to add! (try zucchini, sweet potato or squash, peppers...)

Herbs (a combination of fresh and dried works well – try dried oregano, fresh basil, fresh parsley, or whatever else you’d like)

Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetable oil (2 tbsp should do the trick)

Vegetable stock cubes reconstituted with boiling water, or homemade stock

Method:

In a large stock pot, heat 1 tbsp of the oil. When hot, reduce the heat to medium-high and add the onions. Saute for about 5 minutes until translucent.

Add the rest of the oil and the celery and carrots and sauté for another 2 – 3 minutes. Add the garlic.

Add the chick peas and sauté for 1 minute. 

Then add the tomatoes and the dried herbs.

Finally add the beans and whichever other veggies you have decided to use. Add the stock (liquid should just cover veggies). You don’t want too much liquid because you won’t be letting this soup simmer too long or the vegetables will overcook.

If you have decided to use sweet potatoes, cube them and par-boil them first for about 10 minutes before adding them to the soup. If you have decided to try squash, add an extra layer of deliciousness by roasting the squash in the oven (in cubes) for 10 – 15 minutes prior to adding it to the soup. 

Add your fresh herbs and the salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with parmesan cheese, homemade bread, biscuits, or whatever else makes you feel happy and cosy inside. I made Challah and toasted it nicely. Yummy.