Black Bean Soup

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Tuesday, January 9. 2024

Yes, I love Black Bean Soup. I used to dump it on a pile of (white) rice, but now I like a glob of mashed taters in the middle of the bowl.

Everybody has their own recipe, but I just wing it. What's wrong with this recipe is that it's too low on the beans and garlic, and has no jalapenos. Furthermore, I prefer to just mash a bunch of the beans and leave some intact. I think of it as a meal more than a soup.

Oh, also, I can't eat cilantro. Most can, but not me.

How about you all?

Posted by Bird Dog in Food and Drink at 15:53 | Comments (15) | Trackbacks (0)

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My Hispanic mother-in-law mashed about 1/3rd of the black beans. Not a fan of the mashed potato combination because mouth feel is too similar to the bean soup. Vigo Yellow Rice with saffron goes well with the bean soup. It's a little tricky cooking the rice but if you can achieve the true paella style rice which is a little over cooked and mouth feel crunchy, you have a great combination.

#1 Pebo (Link) on 2024-01-09 17:41 (Reply)

I used to love it and make it all the time. Used a dried bagged product to start then added my own additions. The company stopped making the product and I haven't made it since. I used a stock and ham hock meat. I need to find a replacement and I can't stand cilantro either. Tastes really bitter to me and gives me indigestion. I would never puree the black bean soup either, yuck.

#2 JC on 2024-01-09 17:44 (Reply)

Cilantro is a fresh, green, healthy option to fall back on when I can't find a bar of soap to eat, same flavor profile.

#3 Dan D on 2024-01-09 17:56 (Reply)

Yes, that's about what it tastes like to me.

#3.1 JC on 2024-01-10 07:51 (Reply)

We make black bean soup here, but mash about half, so it ends up pretty thick. We like to add a bit of red wine vinegar to it in the bowl. Maybe we'll give it a try without mashing any and added a scoop of mashed potatoes. No cilantro in ours, the Mrs can't stand it either.

#4 Wheel on 2024-01-09 18:29 (Reply)

I like all beans but prefer Pinto or navy beans. The soup is begging for meat, slow cooker chuck, cheese on top, jalapenos on the side. Cornbread right out of the oven and room temp real butter and a big glass of milk. There! Fixed it for you.

#5 OneGuy on 2024-01-09 18:31 (Reply)

I live in the Tampa area and Cuban food is ubiquitous. Black bean soup and Vigo yellow rice are a great combination and have become household staples. I think my kids could survive on a diet of black beans and empanadas.

#6 Chadd Newman on 2024-01-09 20:12 (Reply)

I use pinto beans. They are great plain or great seasoned. Many different seasoning/vegetable combinations work well with pinto beans. Hoover strawberries to some; they are the least expensive around, but taste great.

#7 Gringo on 2024-01-09 23:22 (Reply)

Cilantro is best matched with a medley of pepper, and I prefer jalapeño and poblano. If you don't like these for black beans, then I recommend fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley with a little sour cream. Lime juice at the end is good with both.

I prefer the beans whole and mash up a quarter to a third to thicken the soup, but blending the whole batch is for the toothless. How boring is that?

If you want a neat flavor tweak, pan-roast a few tomatillos and mash them into the pot when you're starting out. They're nice and tart.

And of course there has to be meat in there somewhere. A ham hock is fine. I like to pan-brown some smoked sausage and add them at the end.

#8 Aggie on 2024-01-10 00:08 (Reply)

I like all beans. I've never had bean soup of that consistency, though. The photo looks like refried beans to me. I think black beans make the best refried beans.

I guess that recipe with some extra ingredients is good for an unplanned weeknight meal for the kids, but it would be better if you cooked the beans.

Cilantro is permanently on the shopping list. It goes with almost everything.

#9 jack walter on 2024-01-10 07:03 (Reply)

Mere ballast for the belly. My very much Hispanic wife says "nunca mas" to any combination of rice and beans, preferring something fresh and green. And yes, jalapeños, poblanos, serranos, and even cilantro are green vegetables. Who am I to tell her she's wrong?

My sympathies to those who dislike cilantro, it's actually a genetic thing. Not a food aversion, any more than my freckles are a pigment aversion.

#10 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2024-01-10 07:12 (Reply)

I like black beans, but black beans do not like me. Husband dislikes cilantro so I never cook with it.

My mother-in-law made the best navy bean soup, but I have never been able to duplicate it.

#11 HH on 2024-01-10 08:10 (Reply)

I could never figure out why I liked some salsa/pico over others - couldn't decipher why some was "soapier" than others - until one day sitting at a restaurant and my co-diner specifically asked that cilantro be left from the dish because it was like a "mouthful of detergent." Light bulb clicked

#12 BornSouthern on 2024-01-10 08:21 (Reply)

I have read about 20% of the world's population have a gene that makes cilantro taste like Sophie dishwater. It's not that we don't like it but that it just tastes terrible to us because of our genetic makeup. Sort of like the people who can't eat dairy because of intestinal problems digesting it. I came to black beans late growing up in Miami but I've learned to appreciate them they taste delicious with pork and rice

#13 Robert Moffett (Link) on 2024-01-10 11:39 (Reply)

I like beans, but not black beans especially. However, I can eat a bowl of them if I throw in chopped onions and douse them with Frank's hot sauce or some salsa.

Also, I'm indifferent to cilantro, but I have a friend who can't stand the taste of it. She also has a phobia toward birds. Genetics?

#14 RebeccaH on 2024-01-10 13:17 (Reply)

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Tuesday, January 9. 2024

Black Bean Soup