Cuban Black Bean Soup From Happy Herbivore Abroad Recipes

Steps:

• Place bay leaves and beans in a Dutch oven.
• Add 12 cups water to pan; bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat, and simmer 2 1/2 hours or until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add bell pepper, chopped onion, and shallots to pan; cook 10 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring frequently.
• Stir in cumin, dried oregano, and fresh oregano; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes.
• Place vegetable mixture in a blender; add remaining 1/2 cup water; puree until smooth.
• Add vegetable mixture, sugar, and salt to beans; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Discard bay leaves.
• Combine avocado and juice; toss gently.
• Ladle 3/4 cup bean mixture into each of 10 bowls; top each serving with about 3 tablespoons avocado mixture, about 3 tablespoons red onion, 2 tablespoons ham, about 1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro, about 1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream, 1 teaspoon pumpkinseed kernels, and about 1/2 teaspoon jalapeño pepper.
• Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Steps:

• Soak the beans with the baking soda in 10 cups of water for about 3 hours. Rinse and drain.
• Add the beans to a Dutch oven and add 10 cups fresh water, along with the olive oil, cumin, oregano, sugar, vinegar, cilantro stems, bay leaves and onion. Simmer until the beans are soft, about 2 hours. Add 2 teaspoons of salt (or more to taste) and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Steps:

• Rinse beans and remove any particles or bad beans; place in a saucepan and cover with 2 inches water. Add celery and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cook over high heat, adding more water as necessary, for 10 minutes. Drain beans and remove and discard celery.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and carrot; saute until onions are fairly translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and chile flakes; continue to cook until heated through and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Place tomatoes and water in a slow cooker. Add onion mixture, beans, and bay leaves.
• Cook until beans are tender enough that you can easily smash one between your tongue and the top of your mouth, on Low for 6 hours or High for 4 hours. Add vinegar. Taste to adjust seasonings and add hot pepper sauce.

Steps:

• Sort the beans carefully to remove any dirt and debris. Rinse the beans in cold water and then soak them overnight covered with more, clean, fresh cold water and place in the refrigerator. Drain any excess water before adding the beans to the soup pot.
• In a large soup pot with a heavy bottom, heat the olive oil. Add the onions, peppers, celery, chili powder, and cumin, and saute over medium heat until the vegetables wilt. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook an additional 3 minutes, stirring to make sure you don't burn the tomato or garlic. Add the water and bring to a boil.
• Add the black beans, return to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for 2 to 21/2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and allow to cool for half an hour before pureeing in small batches in a blender or food processor.
• If you are serving immediately, return the soup to a boil and add 1/4 cup dry sherry. Cook 2 minutes more. Ladle into bowls and garnish each with a tablespoon of sour cream and a sprinkling of scallions or chives. If you are preparing the soup ahead of time, cool thoroughly after blending, transfer to a container with a tightly fitting lid, and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Add the sherry after reheating the soup to serve.

Steps:

• Place beans in a heavy pot. Add enough cold water to cover beans by 2". Bring to a boil; remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Drain beans; return to same pot. Add 8 cups cold water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, ans simmer until beans are tender, adding more water by cupfuls as needed to cover beans, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain beans.
• Heat same pot over medium heat. Add chorizo and bacon and cook until chorizo is brown and bacon is crisp, stirring frequently and breaking up chorizo with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Add onion and next 4 ingredients. Cook until onion is translucent, stirring frequently about 5 minutes. Add 4 cups broth, tomatoes with juice, and beans. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 20 minutes for flavors to blend. Cool slightly.
• Working batches, coarsely puree soup in processor using on/off turns. Return puree to pot, adding more broth as needed for desired consistency. Can be made ahead to this point. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled.
• Bring soup to boil. Add sherry; reduce heat to medium and simmer 3 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Place large spoonful salsa in each of 6 large bowls. Ladle soup over salsa. Serve, passing additional salsa, chopped cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, and chili powder alongside.

Steps:

• Place the beans in a large pan. Cover with 3 quarts cold water and add the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook the beans for 3 hours, stirring frequently and adding more water as necessary to keep the beans covered at all times.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and sauté over medium-high heat until translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and dried and fresh oregano and sauté for 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Transfer the onion mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.
• When the beans are almost tender, add the onion puree, sugar, and salt, and continue cooking until just tender, 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Ladle the hot soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream.

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, cover the beans with water, covering them by 2 inches. Add bay leaf, cumin, oregano, and Italian pepper. Simmer until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, remove the pepper.
• In a saute pan, saute onions, red, and green peppers until translucent. Puree in a blender, this is the sofrito.
• In the same pan, saute the garlic. Add to the beans, along with the sofrito, 1/4-cup olive oil, sugar, and vinegar. Season with salt and continue to cook until very thick, about 45 minutes. Garnish with finely chopped red onion.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray, saute the celery, onion, garlic and jalapeno in oil until onion is tender. Stir in the beans, broth, water, seasonings and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Cool slightly., In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pan; heat through. Garnish each serving with tomatoes, sour cream and cilantro.

Steps:

• Soak beans in water overnight.
• Add salt and boil beans until soft.
• Crush garlic and mix with cumin, oregano and vinegar.
• Set aside.
• Cut onions and peppers into very small pieces.
• Saute in olive oil until the onions are brown.
• Add garlic and spice mix and cook slowly.
• Drain 1/2 of the water from the beans and add to cooked mixture.
• Continue cooking slowly until ready to serve.
• Garnish with one soupspoon of rice marinated in finely chopped raw onion, with olive oil and vinegar.
• A small amount of sour cream adds a wonderful flavor.