Smokey Cuban Black Bean Soup Recipes

SMOKEY VEGETARIAN CUBAN BLACK BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Place black beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain beans and rinse with fresh water.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat; cook and stir yellow onion, paprika, and cumin seeds until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add red bell pepper, green bell pepper, garlic, oregano, and bay leaves; cook and stir until onion is translucent and bell peppers are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Mix vegetable stock, black beans, tempeh, rum, and jalapeno pepper into onion mixture. Increase heat to medium-high, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until beans are tender, about 45 minutes.
• Pour water into bean mixture; season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beans begin to fall apart and soup thickens, 30 to 40 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Remove and discard bay leaves from soup.
• Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with hard-boiled eggs and red onion.

SMOKY BLACK BEAN BISQUE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrot, corn and onion and cook until the vegetables being to soften, about 8 minutes. Season with salt.
• Add the garlic, chile powder and cumin and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans, chipotle and adobo sauce and stir just to combine. Pour in the stock and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer and cook until thick and creamy, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Stir in the lime juice and season with salt, if necessary. Puree the hot soup with a hand blender, if desired, or leave chunky. Serve in soup bowls with the cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.

CUBAN BLACK BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Remove any debris from the beans, then rinse and soak them overnight in cold water, refrigerated. Drain any remaining water after the soaking, before adding the beans to the soup pot.
• In a large soup pot with a heavy bottom, heat the olive oil. Add the ham hock to the oil and begin to brown. Add the onions, peppers, celery, chili, and cumin, and cook over medium heat until the vegetables wilt. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring to make sure you don't burn the tomato or garlic. Add the water and bring to a boil.
• Add the cleaned and soaked black beans, return to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Remove the ham hock from the pot, let cool enough to handle, then strip the meat from the bone. Chop the meat coarsely and add back to the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the sherry and cook 2 minutes more. Ladle into bowls and garnish each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream and a sprinkling of scallions or chives.

CUBAN BLACK BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, cover the beans with water, covering them by 2 inches. Add bay leaf, cumin, oregano, and Italian pepper. Simmer until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, remove the pepper.
• In a saute pan, saute onions, red, and green peppers until translucent. Puree in a blender, this is the sofrito.
• In the same pan, saute the garlic. Add to the beans, along with the sofrito, 1/4-cup olive oil, sugar, and vinegar. Season with salt and continue to cook until very thick, about 45 minutes. Garnish with finely chopped red onion.