Black Bean Soup with Avocado Salad

Every since my black beans arrived, I've been itching to make a big pot of black bean soup. Unfortunately, something always came up, or we had other plans. 

Today finally arrived and we didn't have any dinner plans, so it was high time for the black beans to make their debut! Due to my misadventures this morning I didn't get all the ingredients for the recipe I had originally planned.

So, being the kitchen genius that I am, I made up my own recipe. (For the record, this was my first time ever to cook black beans.) I must say, I'm a pretty darn good cook.

Here's how it goes:

(I got a little ahead of myself here and forgot to take a few pictures)

You will need, 426 grams/about a pound (yes I weighed them) dry black beans, picked through and rinsed.

About 6-8 cups of broth + a cup or so of water if needed, I used beef broth, but any will work.

Now, the beans go into the pot along with the broth and that heat gets cranked up. (It's also where I remembered my camera.)

Next, toss about 1 really big onion (or 3 little ones and a medium one like me) and about 6 or so cloves of garlic (peeled of course) into your handy dandy food processor.

Then, pulse until it's in a million bazillion little pieces.

Now, gently (don't want that hot water to splash on you) throw them into the pot of boiling beans.

Here's where the flavor and spice come in.

Lime juice, chili powder, chopped cilantro, bay leaves, cumin, chopped green chili (the hot stuff) and cayenne pepper.

I can't really give you measurements on the spices. I pretty much never measure. That right there, folks, is the reason I don't bake (much). I can however tell you I added 2 bay leaves to the beans. Just an FYI, the lime juice will turn things a reddish-purple. Don't worry, it's normal. I hope. 

One you've spiced it all up to your liking, let it cook, for about 4-6 hours on medium heat and reducing the last 1-2 hours. (If you have pre-soaked your beans, ignore this part and cook according to package directions.)

  Onto the avocado salad.

(Again, I don't measure anything.)

.

Dice up a small-ish onion and put it in a bowl.

Next, add about 75 grams or so (sorry guys, not sure of ounces or cups in spinach terms) of spinach, roughly chopped. (The picture only shows about 1/3 of the spinach I used.)

Avocado, tomato, pepper mix (or black pepper), garlic powder, sea salt, lime juice, chopped cilantro, and feta cheese.

Add the spinach, feta, and tomato to the onions, and then add your spices. After that's done, mix it up well and taste. Adjust as needed by adding more spices or more veggies. Next you will cut your avocado into chunks and add it to the rest.

Now add about a cup-ish of frozen (helps to keep the salad cold) corn

Mix well and serve!

One more time, in case you missed it.

Nutritional Value:


Entire Salad
Calories 325.5
Fat 24.6
Saturated Fat 3.93
Protein 19.75
Carbohydrates 26.52
Fiber 16.68


1/8 Pot of soup
Calories 190.95
Fat 0.81
Saturated Fat 0.025
Protein 11.77
Carbohydrates 27.28
Fiber 8.37


Whole meal combined
Calories 543.45
Fat 25.41
Saturated Fat 3.96
Protein 31.52
Carbohydrates 53.8
Fiber 25.05

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