Dinner
It's been dreary and rainy all day. The kids and I made a trip down to Pike Place Market while Brian went into work for the afternoon. Before we left, I started the soup, and by the time we were all home, it was filling the apartment and part of the hallway with its fragrance. Which, weirdly enough, smelled more like roast chicken than black bean soup!
Black bean soup
Cornbread
This was seriously the best batch of black bean soup I've ever made (and I've made more than I can count!). It didn't even involve chicken broth, as we had none in the house.
Black Bean Soup
Cooked black beans*
1 c. or so of water
2 T olive oil
1/4 of a ring of turkey kielbasa sausage, diced
1/2 of a large onion, diced
1 tsp of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2? tsp oregano
black pepper to taste
Cook the kielbasa and onion in the olive oil until the onion has softened. Let cook on medium heat to color the sausage and onion a bit, then stir in the thyme, bay leaves, and oregano. Continue to cook until fragrant (1 minute or so). Dump everything into a saucepan with the black beans and pepper. Simmer on very low heat 2-4 hours or all day. If you simmer it all day, add an extra half cup of water OR check every couple of hours to make sure it isn't too dry.
This was delicious served with our "standard" cornbread from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I recently switched us completely to whole wheat flour (except pizza dough!), so I made it with that instead of all-purpose.
*I had cooked 2 cups of dry beans in about 4.5 c. of water, then added 2 tsp of salt. Before I made the soup, I had removed 2 c. of the cooked beans to use in last night's jambalaya, but I'm sure you could just use all of the cooked beans with similar results if you increase the onion to 3/4, the thyme to 1.5 tsp, and the oregano to closer to 1 tsp.
Black bean soup
Cornbread
This was seriously the best batch of black bean soup I've ever made (and I've made more than I can count!). It didn't even involve chicken broth, as we had none in the house.
Black Bean Soup
Cooked black beans*
1 c. or so of water
2 T olive oil
1/4 of a ring of turkey kielbasa sausage, diced
1/2 of a large onion, diced
1 tsp of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2? tsp oregano
black pepper to taste
Cook the kielbasa and onion in the olive oil until the onion has softened. Let cook on medium heat to color the sausage and onion a bit, then stir in the thyme, bay leaves, and oregano. Continue to cook until fragrant (1 minute or so). Dump everything into a saucepan with the black beans and pepper. Simmer on very low heat 2-4 hours or all day. If you simmer it all day, add an extra half cup of water OR check every couple of hours to make sure it isn't too dry.
This was delicious served with our "standard" cornbread from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I recently switched us completely to whole wheat flour (except pizza dough!), so I made it with that instead of all-purpose.
*I had cooked 2 cups of dry beans in about 4.5 c. of water, then added 2 tsp of salt. Before I made the soup, I had removed 2 c. of the cooked beans to use in last night's jambalaya, but I'm sure you could just use all of the cooked beans with similar results if you increase the onion to 3/4, the thyme to 1.5 tsp, and the oregano to closer to 1 tsp.