Black bean soup

I have a love hate relationship with black beans. Mostly I don't like them. They tend to be bland and boring, so unless they are hiding in a burrito under a boatload of salsa I won't order them. However, I do like them when I make them. My secret is to cook the beans with a whole chipotle en adobo from start to finish, this makes them super yummy. I also rinse them before and after cooking to keep the recipe from becoming too murky from the color coming off the beans.

As with all my beans I pre-soak them overnight to 'activate' the nutrients. I tried soaking beans to almost sprouting before, but they ended up tasting too vegetal, overnight works just fine.  For the soup I wanted it to simmer in the crock pot all day since we were going to be out. If you want to cook it on the stovetop you don't have to worry as much about cooking the beans through as they can cook in the soup, but if you are using a crockpot your beans need to be fully cooked, they won't cook through in a crockpot.
 

beans, onion, carrots, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, oil, jalapeno, and the chipotle

soak the beans overnight in salted water w/the chipotle pepper

drain and rinse

simmer beans and chipotle until cooked through

drain and rinse again

chop onion and carrots, and mince garlic and jalapeno

add to crock pot with oil

add beans w/chipotle, cumin, and water to cover, (I decided to add two of my tomato yum cubes)

let cook all day

before serving blend to desired consistency removing the chipotle first, I like mine chunky

now taste, I needed more salt and a little acid so I used vinegar

fry up some tortilla strips

and serve with hot sauce and sour cream/supreme

Tummy warming goodness!