Black Bean Soup with Bacon and Giveaway Winner!

by Pam on December 9, 2012

I was in the mood for soup today so I went in search of what was in my refrigerator.  I decided to keep it simple and make a black bean soup.  I usually toss in some chorizo but I didn’t have any so I decided to use bacon instead.  I also added sweet potato, red pepper, onion, carrot, and celery to make it extra hearty and flavorful.  After the soup simmered for a couple of hours, I blended most of it up with my immersion blender then ladled it into serving bowls. I topped each bowl with cilantro, green onion, avocado, cotija cheese, sour cream, and diced tomato.  It was extremely flavorful and utterly delicious. My kids ate every last drop of their soup and my husband &  I both loved it and look forward to the leftovers tomorrow for lunch.

Place a large Dutch oven on the stove and heat up over medium heat. Add the bacon slices and cook, until it golden brown; remove and place on a paper towel; crumble into bits.  Wipe out all but 1-2 teaspoons of bacon grease. Add the sweet potato, red pepper, onion, carrot, and celery to the Dutch oven and cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the minced garlic, cumin, chile powder, oregano, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the drained & rinsed black beans, chicken broth, bacon bits, lime juice, bay leaf, and molasses. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove the bay leaf from the pot of soup then blend with an immersion blender for a minute or so.  Taste and re-season if needed. Ladle soup into bowls then top each bowl of soup with fresh cilantro, green onion, avocado, cotija cheese, sour cream, and diced tomato. Serve & enjoy.

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Black Bean Soup with Bacon

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 15 min.

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours & 15 min.

Ingredients:

5 slices of bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 small sweet potato, peeled & diced small
1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced small
1 carrot, peeled and diced small
1 stalk of celery, diced small
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp oregano
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
3 15oz cans of black beans, rinsed & drained
4 cups of chicken broth
Juice of 1 lime
1 bay leaf
1 tsp molasses

Garnish:

Fresh cilantro, chopped
Green onions, chopped
Avocado, diced
Cotija cheese, crumbled
Sour Cream
Grape tomatoes, diced

Directions:

Place a large Dutch oven on the stove and heat up over medium heat. Add the bacon slices and cook, until it golden brown; remove and place on a paper towel; crumble into bits. Wipe out all but 1-2 teaspoons of bacon grease. Add the sweet potato, red pepper, onion, carrot, and celery to the Dutch oven and cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the minced garlic, cumin, chile powder, oregano, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the drained & rinsed black beans, chicken broth, bacon bits, lime juice, bay leaf, and molasses. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove the bay leaf from the pot of soup then blend with an immersion blender for a minute or so. Taste and re-season if needed. Ladle soup into bowls then top each bowl of soup with fresh cilantro, green onion, avocado, cotija cheese, sour cream, and diced tomato. Serve & enjoy.

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

Giveaway Winner:

The winner of the  MyRecipes America’s Favorite Food cookbook is comment number 124:

Angelina — December 8, 2012 @ 6:00 am^[3]: My birthday is on the 9th!!! This would be an awesome b-day gift.

Happy birthday Angelina – you won!  Please e-mail me your mailing address at gordon-ramsay-recipe.com@gmail.com so I can send the cookbook to you as soon as possible.

References

1. ^{^} Print Recipe (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
2. ^{^} Save to ZipList Recipe Box (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
3. ^{^} 6:00 am (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)