Recipe: Butternut-Black Bean Soup

recipelink.com Chat Room Recipe Swap - 2001-02-27
From: Kelly~WA

Butternut-Black Bean Soup
8 to 10 servings

2 cups black beans, sorted, rinsed well, and drained
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 large butternut squash (2 to 2-1/2 pounds each) peeled and cut into to 1-inch cubes (5 to 6 cups)
2 teaspoons tamari
Freshly milled black pepper
Sour cream (optional)
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Place the beans in a pot with enough cold water to cover by a few inches and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. (Alternately, if you have the time and foresight, you can soak the beans at room temperature for at least four hours or overnight.) Rinse the beans thoroughly.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and salt and saut , stirring occasionally, until the onion is almost translucent, about five minutes. Add the garlic and sauce until the onion is very soft, about five minutes more.

Stir in 7 cups water, the squash, the beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, but not mushy, about 1 hour.

Remove 1 cup of the beans and vegetables and at least 1 cup of the broth and puree in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the pot. (If you want thicker soup, puree more of the beans and vegetables.) Add the tamari and pepper to taste and simmer for five minutes more.

Divide the soup among individual bowls, garnish each with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of cilantro, if desired. Serve.

[From "3 Bowls Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery" by Seppo Ed Farrey with Myochi Nancy O'Hara, Houghton Mifflin Company 2000]