Black Bean Soup with Tomato-Tomatillo Salsa

By Heritage330

Ingredients

• For the Soup:
• 1 pound dried black beans
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, finely diced
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped tomato (fresh or canned)
• Small sprig fresh or dried epazote (optional)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped canned chipotle chile (or 1/4 tsp. cayenne; more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoon salt
• For the Salsa:
• 1 large tomato, finely diced
• 3 medium tomatillos (husks removed), finely diced
• 1 small red onion, very finely diced
• 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, very finely diced
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Salt to taste
• creme fraiche or sour cream

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 75mins
Adapted from cooking.com

Preparation

Step 1

Pick over the beans. Soak if desired and drain. In a deep, heavy-based pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 min. Add the beans, garlic, and 6 cups cold water. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce to a simmer and when the beans are soft, after about 1 hour, add the tomato, epazote if using, chipotle chile, cumin, coriander, and salt. Continue cooking until the beans start to break down and the broth begins to thicken. Taste for seasoning; add salt and pepper if needed. If you’re serving this soup immediately, you may want to thicken it by pureeing a cup or two of the beans in a blender or food processor and then recombining them with the rest of the soup. The soup will thicken on its own if refrigerated overnight.

In a small bowl, combine the tomato, tomatillos, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro. Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed. This salsa will taste best if assembled no more than an hour before serving.