Soup Season

"There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can."
Laurie Colwin

Le Creuset Cookware

Well it doesn't get very cold in Florida so the few days when it actually get below 70 degrees I'm all about celebrating the small moment of fall before it gets back up to beach weather.  This weekend I was craving making some soups.  They are just so warm and comforting and such a great way to watch the waistline!  They are filling, full of fiber, cheap to make and great on-the-go.  This weekend Shale asked me to make lentil soup.  After I got over the initial shock that he requested something healthy, I started looking online and stumbled across a great find!  Apparently the food network is featuring soup recipes and has an awesome list you can print out for 50 simple soup recipes (some of them use the same base and only tweak one or two ingredients)  Visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-easy-soups-1--10/index.html to print out the list.  When looking I found a great recipe for black bean soup that I tweaked to make my own version without having to buy more ingredients.  It turned out awesome!!!  Even the meat-and-potatoes husband loved it!!!!  So I just had to share!!!

Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
1 1/2 onions diced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium carrots diced
4 cloves garlic smashed and diced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of water
1 pound dried black beans, picked over, rinsed, drained and quick soaked (see instructions below)
2 roasted chicken drumsticks (can also use sausage, turkey drumsticks, any other meat you have on hand)
dash of the following spices (cinnamon, dried mustard, cloves, nutmeg)
few black peppercorns (I just opened up our pepper mill and used those)
2 drops liquid smoke
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
good amount of salt
pepper
*cornstarch slurry - cornstarch and water

Wash, drain and quick soak black beans:
measure out 1 lb of black beans (about 2 cups)
rinse well, check for small pebbles or other foreign material
place into large stockpot with 6 cups water
bring to boil
boil for 2 minutes then remove from heat, cover with lid and allow to sit for 1 hour
**drain off soak water before adding to crock pot below**

To Make Soup:
In skillet heat olive oil
add carrotts, onion, garlic and saute until soft
sprinkle with flour, continue to cook in skillet until light brown
add 2 tbs water and scrape any browned bits from bottom of skillet
transfer these vegetables and cooking liquid to crock pot
add soaked and drained black beans to crock pot
add to crockpot: cinnamon, dried mustard, cloves, nutmeg, peppercorns, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, pepper and a good amount of salt
cook on HIGH for 2 hours
Remove about 2 cups of black beans and puree (or use immersion blender)
return to crock pot and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or overnight
turn off crock pot
In small cup mix together 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with about 3 tablespoons of water
Pour into black bean soup and stir (this should thicken the soup)

You can garnish soup with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, diced chicken, salsa, tomatoes, etc...

I love black bean soup but I'm so picky yet this turned out so great and since it was in the slow cooker it didn't require much work at all!!!

(this is the orginal before tweaking: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-easy-soups-1--10/index.html)

A side note while I'm at it.  I was recently reading a blog about a couple who have gone to India as missionaries.  While there they noticed that despite the poverty the people in the churches still gave to the poor and needy.  The Indian people there eat rice twice daily.  When they would make their rice for every handful of rice they put in the pot they would put another in a bag.  When the couple asked them why they did this they responded that they do this as a way of feeding the poor, needy and orphan.  Every Sunday each family in the church will walk forward and give their "bags" of rice to be distributed to those who are less fortunate.  When making this recipe this weekend I was hit by the similarity.  This is a recipe you could definitely do that for.  Why not when making it rather than just buying 1 pound of black beans buy 2 and give one to a local homeless ministry or soup kitchen?  For $.79 it's not a hard sacrifice but will help give them something warm to eat during the colder months of the year.

Why not allow this to be something practiced for the whole month of November?  Then at the end rather than just being thankful for what you have, others can also be thankful of what you have shared.  Enjoy your first cool days of the year!!!