Our beautiful, mostly sunny, 85 degree days last week have turned into cold, grey, and dreary days this week. It seems fall and the typical winter grey have set in and are here to stay. I've been making every soup recipe on this blog. And a new one that I get to share today! I got this from my friend Kat. She got it from a girl that taught her and my sisters years ago when we were growing up in Nigeria. I'm kind of new to the quinoa scene but I'm really enjoying it in some different things. This soup is definitely top of the list. Its warm, filling, yummy, and super healthy! You can make this vegetarian by using vegetable stock and its completely gluten free if you are watching for that kind of thing. I hope you'll enjoy this like we have! China people can see a link at the bottom for purchasing quinoa on Taobao. Use another grain if quinoa is not available to you!
Black Bean and Quinoa Veggie Soup
1 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 c. diced tomato
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8-1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 c. quinoa, well rinsed
1 large carrot, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
4 c. vegetable broth or chicken broth
~ 3 cups prepared black beans
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
Salt to taste
If you are starting with dried black beans, prepare by soaking overnight and then boiling in salted water until soft. I usually use a pressure cooker and add about half an onion, some garlic cloves, salt, and a dash of oil. You can do the same thing with a slow cooker. You can also use canned black beans if you have them available (1 - 24 ounce can).
In a large soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Add cumin, oregano, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Add quinoa, carrots, bay leaves, broth, and black beans. Bring to a boil then simmer about 20 minutes. Test to see if quinoa is done. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Add any salt if needed (I usually add 1/4-1/2 tsp depending on the type of stock I'm using).
Serve with French bread or corn chips! Both go great!
Notes:
-If you can't get quinoa, this would also be good with brown rice or white rice. Just cook the soup as long as you need to for the grain you choose.
-If you live in China you can find quinoa (藜麦) on Taobao. I have really liked what I've gotten from this seller. Its pretty clean (though you're supposed to wash quinoa really well no matter what) and supposedly organic. It varies in price per jin depending on what sale he's running. But usually if you buy a whole kilo he will ship for free.
Black Bean and Quinoa Veggie Soup
1 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 c. diced tomato
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8-1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 c. quinoa, well rinsed
1 large carrot, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
4 c. vegetable broth or chicken broth
~ 3 cups prepared black beans
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
Salt to taste
In a large soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Add cumin, oregano, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Add quinoa, carrots, bay leaves, broth, and black beans. Bring to a boil then simmer about 20 minutes. Test to see if quinoa is done. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Add any salt if needed (I usually add 1/4-1/2 tsp depending on the type of stock I'm using).
Serve with French bread or corn chips! Both go great!
Notes:
-If you can't get quinoa, this would also be good with brown rice or white rice. Just cook the soup as long as you need to for the grain you choose.
-If you live in China you can find quinoa (藜麦) on Taobao. I have really liked what I've gotten from this seller. Its pretty clean (though you're supposed to wash quinoa really well no matter what) and supposedly organic. It varies in price per jin depending on what sale he's running. But usually if you buy a whole kilo he will ship for free.
Yes, Natalie I have read that but haven't personally noticed a bit difference with the China beans anyway. Its totally up to personal preference! For pressure cooking beans a little oil is recommended as well.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this the best recipe? I need to visit it again as it is now officially soup season in my home! Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteHelp! I just bought a pressure cooker with hopes that it will help us actually be successful with our beans. I have translated all of the buttons, but am stumped by a few of them. All of the "how to's" i see online just say, "add stuff, select high or low pressure - voila!" or something like that. We did a trial run and just pressed "beans" - it started and is doing something, so we at least will have something cooked at the end of this. (Which I can't help but suspect are actually black soy beans...we shall see.) I can't, for the life of me, figure out what the "口感/texture" button would be. Does your machine have this feature? It also has "maintain pressure time" what is perplexing me....as well as the "faint/standard/strong fragrance" indicators. China is throwing me for another loop of confusion here since I was already mostly clueless about to use the machine. Hehe. Anyway...if you have a moment to throw a little help my way, it would be greatly appreciated! If not, i understand and will figure this out by trial and error. :) P.s. thanks for the tip about quinoa on taobao - woohoo!
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to be a bit of help because mine is not fancy with buttons and such. Mine is just an old school type one that you put the lid on and it has a little indicator button that goes up or down if you should or shouldn't open it. I know its working because the steam topper thing gets to spinning. So I have NO idea about another kind. Do you have a local friend that might could help?
ReplyDelete