Although I am working my way through the Spring Fast, I created this Black Bean Soup a few days ago! It is hard to go wrong with black beans – they have a nice flavor, and they naturally work well with cumin, spice (cayenne or jalapeno), cilantro and corn! Maybe a little tomato thrown in as well!
I was recently watching a video of a recipe with black beans and quinoa and a bunch of other ingredients. I am going to point out a couple of health notes to you – cooking your own black beans, following the instructions in the video below, is well worth the effort! Canned cooked beans have BPA (Bisphenol A) in the lining of the tin that can get in the food. So, beyond the savings in dollars that comes with cooking your own beans, and the environmental advantage (no wasteful cans – even if they are recycled, this all takes energy), there is a hugely positive health benefit to you. Three positive reasons to learn to cook your own beans! It is a little intimidating at first, but once you turn out your first batch you will feel darn proud of your own culinary abilities, and your own earthiness!
The other special note is to always buy organic corn. If you are buying frozen corn, which is what I do for most of the year, buy organic. Unless it is marked organic there is a good chance that you are purchasing a GMO food! Corn is up there with soy as a common GMO’d food. (GMO= Genetically Modified Organism, for more information see the documentary Genetic Roulette).
In this recipe I added in diced butternut squash, because I had a piece of squash in the refrigerator, calling out to be cooked! Use anything that you have on hand and have some fun with it!
Black Bean Soup
1 T coconut oil or ghee butter
1 cup diced onion (video ‘How To’ Chop Onions)
1 t ground cumin (video ‘How To’ Roast Spices)
1 T chopped jalapeno OR 1/4 t cayenne pepper
5 sundried tomatoes, soaked in warm water for 1 hour, then diced (save the water)
2 cups black beans (video ‘How To’ Soak, Cook & Store Beans), save the liquid
1 1/2 cups diced squash
1 cup vegetable stock or water, or more if needed
2 cups chopped spinach
1/2 cup corn (always organic!)
Salt, pepper
Melt the oil or ghee in a saucepan, add the diced onion and cook for 7 minutes. Add the chopped jalapeno or cayenne, and the cumin. Stir to incorporate and cook another minute. Add the chopped sundried tomatoes and the diced squash. Mix to cover the vegetables with the spices.
Cook another minute. Then add the water from the sundried tomatoes, the liquid from the black beans and the vegetable stock or water. Bring all of this to the boil, then cover with a lid and reduce to a simmer.
Let the soup cook for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, and take a potato masher and gently mash the beans and the squash. Mash this to your own preference, whether you like it chunkier or more homogenized. Adjust the liquid, adding more if necessary.
Stir in the spinach and corn. Stir throughout the soup to cook the spinach and to thaw the corn. Add salt and pepper, remembering that the water from the sundried tomatoes may have had salt in it.
Serve the soup in bowls with a little diced avocado on top, if you like. Serve with some bits of bread from the bottom of the freezer, toasted up for the dinner, and a wonderful green salad.
At our home we also had some delicious Apple Crumble that evening! There were some apples that were needing cooking before they rotted and we decided that a simple crumble would be the perfect way to go!
More on the Apple Crumble later! Sorry to have you salivating. Hopefully there is enough food information here for Meatless Monday! Check back into the blog in a couple of days and this super simple and delicious Apple Crumble recipe will be here!
Serves 3.
Eat well, and be well!
Cost (approximate numbers)
Onion – $.75
Sundried Tomatoes – $1.50
Squash – $1.50
Black Beans – $.50
Spinach – $2.00
Corn – $.50