This is a little something I threw together and tossed in the slow cooker before I went to work. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but it all sounded good in my head and smelled pretty darn good even before it cooked. When I got home from work tonight I was pleasantly surprised to find that it tasted even better than I had imagined. What can I say? I’m a genius, I guess.
Just kidding about that genius stuff.
Since I work late, I like to make meals in my slow cooker so that Honey Buns will have a hot meal when he gets home from work at regular-working-people hours. But, lest you think me nigh unto angelic for making sure that my man has a hot meal when he gets home from work, its the only time he gets dinner on time. On my days off I pretty much don’t even start cooking until 6:00 PM at the earliest. I’m not lazy, I just get preoccupied with stuff. It’s not until I hear the garage door going up that I snap to attention and run to the kitchen. Generally I have planned what I am making for dinner, so I’m not completely clueless at that magic 6:00 hour.
This recipe is very flexible; you can change the spices and seasonings to suit your taste. I made a very mildly warm soup by limiting the amount of chipotle chili powder. If you like your soup spicier, add more of the hot stuff. As with many soups, sauteing the vegetables deepens the flavor of the soup as a whole.
Black Bean Soup {Slow Cooker}
Ingredients
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 3 (15 ounce) cans black beans
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
- 1 cup diced ham
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder Use more or less per heat preference.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cups water
Suggested Garnishes
- cotija cheese
- sour cream
- chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil. Sauté the carrots and onion in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic; cook and stir until garlic is fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Move the contents of the frying pan into the crock of a slow cooker.
- Rinse and drain 2 cans of the black beans. Add to the slow cooker.
- Puree the 3rd can of black beans, with the liquid. This can be done with a stick blender or by hand using a fork to mash the beans. Of course, a regular blender will work well.
- Add the mashed beans in the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and stir all together. Do not drain the tomatoes or the diced green chiles. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
- Garnish with cotija cheese, sour cream, and/or cilantro, if desired. Cornbread or tortilla chips make a nice accompaniment.
Notes
Nutrition
jeff and i were trying to make this on wednesday. ours wasn’t as successful at all. but then, we don’t have canned black beans, just dry, which neither of us have used much before
Rebecca is too nice to me. What she means to say is that I put about half a tonne (British spelling) of dried black beans into a slow cooker at 4pm, along with some crappy British rice. I blame it on not soaking the beans long enough, as after about 6 hours in the slow cooker what I had was an underseasoned pile of purple, mushy rice and crunchy beans. I stayed up until 12am hoping to salvage something out of the mess, but ultimately I ended up with an underseasoned pile of mushy rice AND beans. Basically I re-invented mortar – using ingredients which can be found in any grocery store. The lawyers tell me I have a good shot at getting the patent. Just promise me you won’t try to eat it, this stuff is for construction purposes only.
Becca, write me an email and tell me what happened to your beans. I have often used dried beans in recipes, so maybe I can help you figure out what went wrong with your beans. The main thing with using dry beans is that you have to cook the beans before you add any other ingredients, especially tomatoes. Tomatoes will keep the beans hard if the beans are not fully cooked before adding the tomatoes.
Jeff, this is funny! I was writing an answer to Becca at the same time as you were writing an explanatory comment as well. Congrats on the mortar thing. Maybe its your answer to paying for grad school and that PhD.
We do get a little spoiled in America with our selection of ingredients, don’t we? I’ll send you guys some info on using dried beans. Heaven only knows how nuts I made my kids when they were growing up with all of my dried bean experiments.
Made this for dinner tonight. It was a hit! Very hearty and delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Yay! I’m so glad that you liked it.