Summertime Black Bean Soup with Roasted Corn and Avocado Salsa
Jalapenos are the most popular chile peppers in the US. This is probably due to the availability and versatility of the chile. Jalapenos have a balanced combination of flavor and heat.
The demand for these have caused breeders to develop a broad range of varieties. You can now get jalapenos with various heat level and sizes. These can be used in salsas, stuffed, or eaten straight with cheeseburgers (my personal favorite).
Ingredients:
Soup Ingredients:
2 cups dried black beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked in water to cover
2 bay leaves
2 Tbs cumin seeds
1 large jalapeno, chopped with seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large white onion, medium dice
2 green bell peppers, medium dice
6 cloves garlic, sliced or uniformly chopped
Salt
Pepper
For the salsa:
2 ears of corn
2 ripe avocados
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
lemon or lime
1/8 tsp. chipotle chili powder
Instructions:
Makes 5 -6 main course servings.
Soak beans overnight in enough water to cover (four cups is a good starting number). In large pot or slow cooker, combine beans with soaking water, cumin seeds, jalapeno, bay leaves and 1 tsp of salt. Add 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and bring to a simmer, cooking, partially covered, until beans are tender, roughly 2 hours.
In a large skillet add olive oil and garlic and turn to medium heat. When garlic becomes fragrant, add diced peppers and onion. Season with salt and pepper (start with no more than half a tsp of salt. . .you can always add more, but you can’t take away). The goal here is to sweat the vegetables, not brown them, so keep the heat gentle as you sautee then until softened.
When the beans are tender and the vegetables are softened, using an immersion blender or food processor, blend half the beans (being sure to include the two bay leaves) and 1/4 to 1/3 of the vegetables together until thick and smooth. Add this and the vegetable mixture to the remaining beans in your large pot. Stir thoroughly to combine and taste for seasoning. Simmer for another 20 minutes. Serve garnished with roasted corn and avocado salsa.
Roasted Corn and Avocado Salsa:
Set oven to broil. Line baking sheet with foil. Remove husks from corn and cut avocados in half and remove seed. Rub corn and avocado lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Broil, turning as needed until uniformly charred. Avocados will finish before corn. When cool enough to touch cut corn from cob, remove avocado from skin and cube. Combine corn, avocado, cilantro, chipotle chili powder and the juice of 1 lemon or lime.
From oneishungry.com