Black Bean Soup With Avocado Salsa
serves 4
Sometimes plain soup, no matter how lovely, wants just a little something. Here that something is a complementary avocado salsa. Read more about this recipe at the Washington Post.
New to Cookthink? Try our search tool or sign up for our RSS feeds.
Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (may substitute more cumin)
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup orange juice
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Ground chipotle chili pepper, or red hot pepper sauce, to taste (optional)
Salsa
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 ripe avocado (or mango), peeled and diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
Finely chopped jalapeno or serrano chili pepper, to taste
1 pinch brown sugar (optional)
Tortilla chips for serving
prep: 20 minutes
total: 1 hour
large pot (or saucepan)
blender
small bowl
1. For the soup: Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 7 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 to 60 seconds.
2. Add the stock, orange juice, beans, salt to taste, black pepper and ground chipotle pepper or hot pepper sauce to taste; increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
4. For the salsa: In a bowl, combine the salsa ingredients. (If using mango, you may be want to add a pinch of brown sugar.) Set aside at room temperature.
5. To serve, top each serving of soup with a mound of the salsa and serve with spoons or tortilla chips.
Adapted from A Beautiful Bowl of Soup: The Best Vegetarian Recipes by Paulette Mitchell.
