Adapted from a recipe in the CSMonitor March 2009
2 T olive oil
½ cup diced onion
½ diced red (or yellow) bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large carrot, diced
1 rib of celery chopped
½ t cumin powder
a sprinkling of dried red pepper flakes
(to taste)
½ C chopped, canned tomatoes
2 cans organic black beans
4 ½ C vegetable stock
juice of half a lemon
garnish: sour cream
heat the oil in a large, heavy pot until hot. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, celery, carrot, pepper flakes and cumin. Sauté over medium/low heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans, stock and lemon juice. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Partially cover and continue simmering until beans are soft, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Add additional stock If necessary. This is a thin soup. Adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper and more red pepper flakes as desired. Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream. Serves 4 I made some rice and added that to the soup as I served it.
The terrific black bean photo is by Declan Zimmerman (thanks for letting me use it.) You can learn more about him, and hear his very cool music, at http://www.myspace.com/declanzimmerman
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