Black Bean Soup

Directions

1Heat ¼ cup oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, 5 - 7 minutes.

2Add red wine vinegar and cook, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot, until vinegar is reduced by about half.

3Add the adobo sauce from can of chiles and stir to coat.

4Add the dried black beans, oregano, salt, and 8 cups water. Bring up to a boil over high heat, then drop the heat down low so that the beans are just simmering. Cover pot with a lid.

5Simmer, stirring every 30 minutes to prevent sticking, until beans are tender and creamy, 1½ - 2 hours. As the beans cook, you may need to top off with a bit more hot water if too much of it cooks off; you want to make sure the beans are submerged.

6Meanwhile, assemble your garnishes. They're going to be the difference between an extremely simple—and delicious!—pot of black bean soup and something that feels fun and kind of fancy. The first thing we're going to make is a kind of creamy lime-yogurt to dollop on top. First, place 1 cup yogurt in a small bowl. Finely grate zest from 1 lime into bowl. Cut the lime in half and squeeze in juice.

7Season yogurt mixture with salt.

8Prepare any other (optional) garnishes you may like. Slice some ripe avocado. Put some Fritos or tortilla chips or corn nuts in a bowl. Pick some cilantro leaves. Chop some onion, or thinly slice some scallions. Shred some cabbage.

9Taste and season soup with salt, if needed. Remember: Beans can handle quite a bit of salt, so don't be afraid to add more if it tastes kind of "meh." You can serve right away, but we usually like to let a bean soup like this hang out for at least a half hour after we've finished seasoning it so that the salt in the cooking liquid can work its way into the beans themselves. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with yogurt mixture, and serve with lime wedges and any other garnishes your heart desires.



Do Ahead

1Soup, without garnishes, can be made 1 week ahead; store in an airtight container and chill, or freeze up to 3 months.