Black Bean Soup

We are still in the deep freeze, but at least it feels more season-appropriate. Totally fine for -40 AFTER Christmas. Okay, not really, but when we make up rules like that, we feel more in control. Canadians! Masters of self-delusion! At any rate, a friend mentioned black bean soup the other day and I haven't been able to get it oot of my head. Here's what I came up with.

You will need:

1 tsp butter
2 leeks
1 small carrot
1 celery stalk
3 garlic cloves
2 cans black beans (540 ml each) - rinsed, for the love of all that is holy
6-ish stalks cilantro
3 c chicken stock (or vegetable stock, should you want to make this vegetarian)
28 oz can diced tomatoes
Salt, pepper, ground cumin

Prep! Dice your carrots and celery, mince your garlic. Separate the stems from the leaves on the cilantro stalks, set leaves aside. Mince the stems.

Leeks are a little different. Cut off the dark green tops, set aside for stock (haven't tried them yet in there, totally going to!) and rinse the insides of the white / light green parts. You would not believe how dirty it is in there. Guh-ross. Cut the ends off, then slice lengthwise. Rinse under running water, pulling apart the layers. Then slice lengthwise into three pieces, then crosswise. You know, make them smaller. Exactly how is not important.

Heat the butter in a large Dutch oven, add in the leeks, carrot, minced cilantro stems and celery. Cook until somewhat softened, about 4-6 minutes. Add in the garlic, cook for only one more minute. Just one! Or until you can smell it, so maybe 30 seconds.

Add in the (rinsed, right?? don't skip this step, for reals) beans, chicken stock, tomatoes, salt, pepper and about a teaspoon of ground cumin. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes, tasting about halfway through. Probably needs more pepper. And cumin. Maybe even some salt.

Remove the lid, let simmer for five more minutes while you chop up the cilantro leaves into thin slivers. My old cooking instructor would insist that I call this en chiffonade, but it really isn't that fancy. Slivers! Add in the cilantro leaves, cook for five more minutes, done!

This also came out to 6 big cup and a half servings, at 243 calories each, with an unreal amount of fibre and protein. Hey! I just realised this could also be vegetarian! And it's not even Wednesday!

Enjoy!