Young & Hungry

The finished product

Knowing that I had a harried week at work approaching, I was anxious to create one of those one-pot wonders that lends itself to seemingly endless dinner options. Using what I had in the pantry, I threw together a quick black bean soup, extremely filling and perfect for a quick dinner at the end of a long day. What follows is a ridiculously flexible recipe that should by no means be followed to the letter.
    
While it takes awhile for the black beans to soak and the soup to cook, the actual work involved is minimal…this is a meal that can be thrown on the stove and left to simmer and then is hearty enough to be dressed up a hundred different ways, e.g., as soup, in tacos, on a salad, with eggs, etc. Feel free to add—or omit—whatever happens to be on hand, including soy crumbles (or ground meat for those carnivores out there) to make a chili.

  
Prework: soak 1 lb dried black beans in water at least 4 hours or overnight
  

Soaking beans: before

  

Soaking beans: 4 hours later

    
Sautee in about 3 T olive oil in large dutch oven:

• 1 medium diced onion
• 2 smashed cloves garlic
• 3 diced ribs celery
• 2 diced carrots
• 1 sliced
• jalapeno (or to taste)
    

Chopping the jalapeno

  

The big sautee

      
Cook until onions are translucent and vegetables are fragrant, about 8-10 minutes. Add to pot:

The soaked beans

32 oz vegetable broth

8 oz water

1 can diced tomatoes

½ tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp tumeric (a great anti-inflammatory, use is whenever possible!)

Salt and pepper to taste
  
Allow to barely simmer until beans are extremely tender; add liquid as needed to keep beans just covered.
    
For a creamy soup, stir in 8 oz Greek yogurt at end of cooking.

Suggested toppings:

• Greek yogurt
• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Chopped parsley or cilantro