Sunday, January 1, 2017

Better Black Bean Soup

A tall jar of black beans had been languishing in the back of my cupboard, for oh, a couple of years at least.  I expected them to cook up dry because of their age and planned several soaks over 24-hours, changing every 8 hours or so.  I cooked them for a very long time with onions and garlic and sea salt. When it was time to go to bed, nigh midnight, I turned off the fire and set out on cold porch to chill. The following day, I test bit into a dry bean sure enough.  Into the Vitamix blender, in batches, whirred, if not smooth, then grainy and soupy.  One batch into the freezer for later. One batch into the fridge to be forgotten for Christmas week stress  joy. Out again tonight. Missing that oomph.  One 16-ounce jar of mild tomato and cilantro salsa, mixed with ladle, heated, and poured over a couple slices of cheddar cheese, turned a bowl into pure delight.

When in doubt, season away, help a dull dish become stellar with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, addition of tomato anything, kwas, pickle juice (especially in beet soup).

Took a long walk in rounds, felt like enough after an hour.  Along the way found drapery pulls and a couple of dvds/movies: Captain Phillips and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants or Jeans. Also saw some actual silver jeans, but sadly not easily accessible.

Wishing you a Happy New Year in 2017.

1 comment:

Jessica@CapeofDreams said...

I love soup, and black bean is one of my favorites. Sadly it's been a while since I made some. I'll have to rectify that.