Friday, October 9, 2009

Black Bean Soup

Man: soup is my favorite thing ever.  PS, this soup is totally vegetarian and totally hearty.  The two can coexist happily, and do so all the time in my kitchen.

Ready?

Serves: Two people as a meal, maybe three or four as an appetizer.
Ingredients:
1 can of black beans
Small amount of oil or butter
Garlic
Half an onion
A tomato or two
Red wine (spicy is nice-y)
1 vegetable bullion cube
Some water

Okay so!  This recipe starts like all my recipes: start off some chopped garlic and onions simmering in oil.

Typically I use olive oil but the other day I ran out and used Toasted Sesame oil instead.  Let me tell you: that was a fun substitution!  It makes it a little nutty or something.

When you're satisfied with your garlic and onions (it's great to brown the garlic a little), dump in your can of black beans.  (Note: I often use the verb "dump" when telling you to add ingredients, which, in addition to not sounding totally gourmet, can be hazardous when dealing with oil!  Watch for splatters.)

Add a generous amount of wine.  Do we have to be measurey?  Not a full glass or anything, but certainly add enough for a coupla hearty Italian toasts.

I used Yellowtail Shiraz-Cabernet tonight.  It was pretty good.  Yellowtail: they know what to do about wine and there's a picture of a kangaroo.  Who can complain?

Oh, and toss in your bullion cube, and add in ohhhh let's say a cup of water.  Just to make it, y'know, soupy.

Let it simmer for a while.

Dice up your tomatoes nice and small.  Also nice here is to chop up a bit of raw onion and use it as a garnish.  It complements the beany flavor very nicely.

When you feel your simmering is complete, throw on your tomatoes and onions and serve!  It's all about lots of bread and butter with this soup.