Cuban Black Bean Soup

Cuban Black Bean Soup pictured with Pamela's Old Fashioned Skillet Cornbread

Given the way cold winter we've had, I have been breaking out some of our tried and true soup recipes. I found this one a few years ago on a Bob's Red Mill black bean package. I modified it to make it vegan and we've loved it ever since.

1 pound dry black beans

4 cups water

*Soak beans overnight or heat in the 4 cups water, cover and boil 2 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for one hour. I have also successfully cooked them all day on high in a small crock pot *optional use of 2 cans black beans cuts cooking time to less than half. if you use canned beans, do not use this 4 cups of water.

1 3.5-inch piece of kombu (size is approximate!)**

3 cloves garlic, pressed

 1 bell pepper, med., chopped (2 jalapenos will add a spicy alternative!)

1 onion, medium, chopped

2 teaspoons paprika

3 teaspoons cumin

2 bay leaves (or 1 teaspoon crushed bay leaves)

4 cups vegetable stock (or the equivalent with veggie bouillon)

1/4 teaspoon chili powder (can substitute cayenne for more kick)

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to beans except salt, pepper and wine vinegar. Cover and simmer for two hours if using soaked dry beans or about 30 minutes for canned beans. Add salt, pepper and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, heat through and let stand. If you used whole bay leaves, remove them before serving.

This soup can also be served over cooked brown or white rice.

**Kombu is a wide leaf, deep growing sea vegetable that is used in soup or soup stock. When you add it to dried beans, it helps to tenderized them and cut cooking time considerably. it also contains natural sodium, thus cutting the amount of sea salt needed for flavor. One 3.5-inch piece has 170 mg potassium and over 100% the RDA of iodine, 6% RDA of magnesium and 2% RDA of calcium, making it an excellent addition to a vegan diet!