(92) Black Bean Soup

This was good. I skipped the eggs. We could not find crema, so I used LF sour cream. I could have done w/o the garlic in the topping (I hate having garlic breath!!), but otherwise the topping was good! Next time I'll use canned black beans. My dry ones were a little too chewy and didn't blend great - maybe operator error? who knows!?! Anyway, the soup had a great flavor and was very filling! Will repeat!

---

Black Bean Soup

Yield: 4 servings
Source: Cooking Light Magazine, October 2009

1 cup dried black beans
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 cup chopped onion
7 garlic cloves, minced and divided
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1/4 cup no-salt-added tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded
1/4 cup crema Mexicana
3 hard-cooked large eggs, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh cilantro leaves

Preparation

1. Sort and wash beans, and place in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water; cover and let stand for 8 hours. Drain beans.

2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 4 minutes, stirring often. Add 5 garlic cloves; cook 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beans, broth, and next 7 ingredients (through chiles); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until beans are tender. Let stand 10 minutes.

3. Place half of bean mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid; secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid. Process until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining mixture. Return soup to pan; cook 5 minutes, stirring often.

4. Finely chop 1 cup cilantro and jalapeño. Combine 2 tablespoons oil, 2 garlic cloves, cilantro, jalapeño, and crema. Ladle 1 1/4 cups soup into each of 4 bowls; top each with 2 tablespoons crema. Sprinkle soup with eggs. Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 369, Fat: 18.4g (sat 5.8g,mono 7.8g,poly 1.8g), Protein: 17.5g, Carbohydrate: 34.7g, Fiber: 11.8g, Cholesterol: 173mg, Iron: 4.8mg, Sodium: 829mg, Calcium: 114mg