Black Bean Soup for Recipe Friday

A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to try something new, and looking at what I had on hand I came up with this recipe. I decided to use black beans because they are my son’s favorite type of beans. My husband said he thought this soup might be better than chili, and my son said he liked it better than “the other bean soup,” by which he meant white bean soup with ham. I have to agree that it did turn out pretty good for a recipe I made up as I went along.

What really made the consistency of this soup turn out how I wanted it to was that I used my new Pampered Chef food chopper. It was also what allowed me to use some dried peppers I’ve had in the fridge for a while and didn’t know how to chop.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs beef stew meat
1 sweet onion
½ oz dried Pasilla chili pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp beef bouillon or 1 can beef broth
1 sweet red pepper
2 small carrots
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cans black beans
1 can corn
1 tsp Spice Island’s chipotle pepper seasoning
½ tsp cumin
6-7 drops Tabasco sauce
2-3 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut beef stew meat into very small pieces (¼ inch size). Dice onion and Pasilla pepper into very small pieces using food chopper. Heat olive oil in a 4 quart pot. Add beef, onion, and pepper, and sauté until beef is browned. Add beef bouillon and 1 cup water, or beef broth, and let meat simmer on medium heat. Dice red pepper and two peeled carrots. Add to pan. Add one can diced tomatoes. Add chipotle pepper, cumin, and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 to 25 minutes.

Rinse black beans and add to the pot. Add corn and enough water to reach desired consistency. Add Tabasco sauce. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. You can also add a bit more chipotle pepper at this point if you want spicier soup. Serve with corn chips, Fritos, or crackers.