Black Bean Soup

We here in the Deep South have experienced the summer that won’t seem to end. Who knew we’d have 101-degree temperatures in late October? We have set temperature record after temperature record.

The end is coming. We have flirted with the 40s at night. There was no better reason to finally try a new soup recipe.

This soup was easy to make and is simply delicious. BUT please make sure to plan ahead. The beans need to be soaked overnight. It made more than enough for us to eat and then freeze a portion for a cold winter night that is coming again. I just know it.

The recipe comes from Shirley Edberg. I found it in a recipe book compiled by The Citizens Bank many years ago. I changed it up a bit to suit our tastes. Serve it over white rice and it makes a complete meal. I hope you enjoy it.

Black Bean Soup

1 lb. black beans

1 ½ lb. smoked sausage, cut into ¼-inch slices

3 medium onions, chopped

3 (green) bell peppers, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used ¼ tsp garlic powder)

Salt and pepper to taste (This wasn’t needed)

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse.

Slowly brown sausage. Place in a large soup pot.

Sauté onions and bell peppers until onions are clear. Pour into soup pot.

Add remaining ingredients, including drained and rinsed beans, to the pot. Cover with fresh water and slowly bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until beans are done but not mushy. This takes about 2 hours.

Serve over rice, cooked in a separate pot.

P.S. This soup freezes really well.

How to Prepare Dried Beans

I found this wonderful info bit in Relish magazine. I'm the one who usually soaks beans overnight to prepare them for cooking. Of course, that requires that I actually think ahead. I can usually accomplish this on New Year's Eve so that I can eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. So I was excited to find there's an alternative for the other days of the year.

Dried beans must be soaked before cooking. I hope everyone already knows this. I don't know what happens when you don't do this. I've never tried it. I wouldn't imagine anything edible would come from it though.

Soak beans overnight. You want to first rinse and check the beans. Sometimes there are discolored or broken beans in the bag. Remove those. Then place the beans in a large bowl with cold water. Let them stand (or sit?) overnight. Relish suggests 6 cups of water for 1 pound of beans. I simply make sure that the beans are fully covered. Be sure to drain the beans before you cook them.

Quick-soak beans. Rinse and check the beans. Remove the discolored or broken beans. Place the beans in a large pot with 6 cups of cold water. Cover, bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. Drain. I look forward to trying this method. I just hope the water doesn't boil over. That would be a mess.