While it wasn't too long since I was in Mexico for the first time (in May), I miss it already. The quest for the perfect fish tacos brought us to a lot of great digs all around Tulum. We had our fair share of ceviche, calamare, camarones, tacos, empanadas, not to mention salsa. A lot of very spicy salsa.
This soup is just the protein you need. And because black beans help regulate your body's glucose levels, your metabolism will be working as hard as you are. If your transition from summer to fall goes from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye (like mine), you'll be glad for the extra energy. And this recipe is a fast cook, if you're short on time.
You can make this from canned black beans, which will result in a creamier texture. I chose to use the rest of my dried beans, which meant that I decided to make this soup a day in advance, so that I had time to soak the beans over night, rinse them, and set them boiling an hour before I threw in the other ingredients. Yep, I just threw 'em in. Also, feel free to use ground pork, chopped ham cold-cuts, etc. I used sausage because it was leftover from a bbq season... sniff..
Easy Black Bean Soup
2 cans or 1 cup dried black beans, soaked and cooked
1-2 pork sausages, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 carrot, chopped
chicken bouillon cube, oregano, cumin and chili, spiced to taste.
If you feel like fussing a little more, sauteing the onions, garlic and spices in a little olive oil before adding them to the beans, feel free. It will soften the flavour of the garlic, and release the aroma of the spices. If you don't, that's fine too. Boil all ingredients together until the carrot is softened, and then using a hand blender, blend all ingredients together.
Squeeze some lime juice and garnish with an avocado. Serve hot or room temperature.
This soup serves 6, or one greedy chick 3 days worth of cholesterol lowering, gut satisfying soup to keep me going. Perfect for a gal on a budget, too. Yep, I spent all my pesos and Mexico and don't regret it for a minute. I think after this post I'll go for a run and start getting in shape for my next Mexican holiday.
Side note: Lacking a submersion blender, I decided to wait for the soup to cool a bit and then pour it into the regular blender. Ooops, the liquid was still too hot, resulting in a crack down the side of my glass blender. Truly devastating for me, as my precious Kenwood Robot Culinaire is one of my only prized earthly possessions...(along with my Nikon and my passport). A true sign that smoothie making season is just about over for a while....
