Wednesday is Pulse Day- A Black Bean (kidney) soup recipe

Well, there’s been a ton of enthusiasm for this project after I launched it last week. I’ve had two friends send me recipes and I’ve had a lot of people express interest. It’s exciting for me too. I’m pouring over recipe books. I’ve realizing that I’ve got to cook outside of my comfort zone to try some pulses that I haven’t worked with before.

But I love learning, and I love a challenge.

I’ve decided that I’m going to try and update this blog with one recipe a week. That’s right a new recipe will be added every Wednesday. We’ll see if I can do it. Then again, I’ve written a weekly literary column for almost nine years, so I’m almost certain I can cook a pulse dish every week for a year.

Black bean soup is kind of a staple. If you read a lot of cookbooks, particularly vegetarian ones, you’ll come across a black bean soup recipe eventually. Black beans are often used in salads, soups and stews. I love them.

To make this recipe you’ll need

4 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp canola oil (optional)
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
½ onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced (I love garlic, so I added two)
3 cups black beans (This is where I screwed up. I had already used a can of black beans and forgot to replenish. So I used some red kidney beans instead)
¼ cup tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste.

A note on stock- I use a specific kind of veggie bouillon cube that you just add to hot water. I’ll post a picture of it sometime. When I was at my parents’, I made soup with a veggie Campbell’s soup stock in a Tetra-pak. I suppose you could use chicken stock if you had some around, but I’ve never tried it.

A note on tomato paste- A ¼ cup doesn’t use up all of one of those little tins of tomato paste. What I usually do is freeze the leftover tomato paste. I often seal the can with a piece of saran wrap. The next time I want to use the tomato paste, I just take it out of the freezer ahead of time and let it thaw.

The recipe- Saute carrot, celery, onion and garlic in 2 tbsp of the stock, adding more stock if necessary, over medium heat for five minutes. (You can also saute in oil if you’d like, which is what I would normally do).

Stir in beans, remaining stock, tomato paste, cumin, oregano and thyme. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, while you meditate. (Well, you don’t have to meditate, but that’s what I did). Check the pot to see if the vegetables are cooked. I like my vegetables on the firm side, so I find I end up cooking for about 25 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in lime juice. (This really kicks it up a notch. You can really taste the lime). Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

This recipe is from Cooking Vegetarian by Vesanto Melina, registered dietitian and Joseph Forest.