Black Bean Soup
Happy fall! It’s officially soup weather. For this week’s recipe, we’re still taking advantage of our late season harvests: fresh tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers. The plants are all still producing fruit, albeit more slowly as the temperatures drop and daylight diminishes.
Like most soups, this one improves over time, when the beans soak up more broth and flavors. Fortunately, you’ll have plenty extra as leftovers.
Serves 8
1 ½ hours - 2 hours
½ tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large or 2-3 small onions, diced
1 large jalapeño, seeded and chopped, (keep the seeds in if you like it spicy)
2 cups plum tomatoes, about 8, roughly chopped
4 tomatillos, roughly chopped
8 cups water
2 cups black beans
1 ½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Marigold petals for garnish
Grind the coriander and cumin seeds with a mortar and pestle, spice grinder, or very clean coffee grinder. Even roughly breaking them apart with a rolling pin would work. Set aside.
In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and jalapeños and sauté until they soften, about 10 minutes.
Push aside the onions and jalapeños so that there’s a small open area at the bottom of the pot. Add the ground coriander and cumin and toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds, being careful not to burn them.
Add the plum tomatoes and tomatillos and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until they break apart, about 10-15 minutes. The mixture should look like a thick sauce.
Add the water and black beans and bring to a boil. Reduce to a strong simmer, almost a low boil, and skim off any foam. Partially cover the pot and continue cooking until the beans are soft. This may take between 90 minutes and 2 hours.
Towards the end, with about 15 minutes to go, add the salt and red wine vinegar. Add more to taste, if needed.
Optional: briefly use an immersion blender so that you have a mixture of puréed and whole beans.
Garnish with fresh marigold petals before serving.