Winter soups: Chipotle black bean

A while back, I found Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd in the discount bin at Chapters. Even though I rarely cook for 20+ people at a time, I do do a lot of big batch cooking, so I thought some of the recipes might be interesting or useful, and bought it. I have two or three other Moosewood cookbooks, having once lived in Ithaca, New York state, home of the Moosewood restaurant (I was a starving grad student at the time, so only actually ate there once or twice). The cookbook turned out to be a very good buy, with lots of interesting recipes that I can adapt or use as inspiration.

The following recipe is inspired by the MRCfaC’s “Black Bean Soup” recipe.

Chipotle black bean soup

• 1 cup dried black beans, soaked and cooked, or 2 cans black beans, rinsed
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 large onion
• 1 tablespoon olive or other cooking oil
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2-3 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 large red pepper, roasted
• 2-3 whole chipotle canned peppers, minced, or 4 tablespoons chipotle sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped, or 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne or more to taste

I make most of my soups, including this one, in a slow cooker / crock-pot, but I’ve included instructions for making it on the stove top as well:

1. Mince the garlic and ginger, and dice the onion. Saute them in the olive oil over medium heat until the onions soften. Use a frying pan or small pot if you’re going to transfer to a slow cooker, use a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot if you’re going to cook the soup on the stove top.
2. Stir in the cilantro, cumin,  cayenne, and a dash of black pepper and  “cook” the spices with the onions for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
3. If using a slow cooker, dump the sautéed onions & spices into the slow cooker and deglaze the pot with some of the stock. If cooking on the stove top, add the stock to the pot and stir.
4. Peel and dice the sweet potato, and add it, and the cooked black beans to the pot or crock-pot. Top up the pot with additional stock or water if necessary to just cover the vegetables & beans.
5. Peel and roughly chop the roasted red pepper, and add it to the pot or crock pot.
6. Add the minced chipotle peppers or chipotle sauce, and give everything a good stir.
7. In a slow cooker, cook on high for at least 2 hours or on low for at least 4, or until the sweet potatoes are soft. On the stove top, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft. With either method, add extra water if the soup gets to thick and starts to stick to the bottom of the pot.
8. Adjust the seasoning if necessary by adding more chipotle peppers (or sauce) if the soup isn’t spicy enough. If it’s too spicy, serve with a dollop of sour cream or plain yoghurt in the middle of each bowl.

This serves roughly 6 people for a main meal with a side salad or bread.

[Via http://ai731.wordpress.com]