- Soups
By
Caroline Russock
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Caroline Russock
Caroline Russock is a writer who splits her time between Philadelphia and the Caribbean covering food, travel, leisure, lifestyle, and culture. Her writing is featured in PhillyVoice, Eater, Eater Philly, Serious Eats, and The Tasting Table.
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Updated August 09, 2018
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The majority of recipes I write about here in Cook the Book end up being my dinner and this week's selection has posed a bit of a problem. You see, with the exception of ramen and pho, I've never been one to be satisfied with soup as a meal. I suppose the closest I ever get to serving soup for dinner is a bowl of chili, but that really doesn't count as soup, at least not in my book.
While searching through Clifford A. Wright's The Best Soups in the World, I was on the lookout for recipes that would be truly satisfying, soups that you could really sink your teeth into without having to resort to an entire loaf of bread to really fill you up.
This adaptation of Rick Bayless's Black Bean Soup was just what I had in mind. Reading the ingredients list, this could make some tasty tacos or tostadas if it weren't for the 12 cups of water called for in the recipe. There was no doubt in my mind that this combination of shrimp, black beans, tortillas, and queso fresco would make a soup that didn't leave me wanting something else.
I must preface my step-by-step breakdown of this recipe by saying that I cheated a bit during the preparation. Last week's Boston "Baked" Beans taught me that dried beans don't have to resort to hours of cooking, so I broke out the pressure cooker to cut down on the simmering time for this soup. As expected, it worked like a charm, and the pressure-cooked beans simmered with the onion, fennel, chipotle chiles, and chorizo for a little less than an hour to become tender and flavorful.
I whizzed it up using the immersion blender and plopped in the shrimp. The shrimp essentially poached in the soup, and I finished my bowls with the queso fresco called for in the recipe, along with some cubed avocado, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
The soup turned out thick and deeply flavorful with a surprising amount of spice, thanks to the chipotle chiles and chorizo. The shrimp were a nice addition, but I don't think the soup needed them at all; the beans, chips, and cheese made for a hearty soup that left me happily sated and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Win The Best Soups in the World
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of The Best Soups in the World to give away this week.
Recipe Details
Rick Bayless's Black Bean Soup Recipe | Cook the Book
Cook2 hrs 30 mins
Soaking Time60 mins
Total3 hrs 30 mins
Serves4 servings
Ingredients
3/4 pound (1 1/2 cups) dried black beans, picked over
12 cups water
6 ounces (about 1 link) Mexican-style chorizo, casing removed and crumbled
1 stalk fennel, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
4 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined if necessary
5 corn tostadas, broken up or a handful of corn tortilla chips
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or cheddar cheese
Directions
In a large pot, place beans and cover with 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn heat off and let beans sit for 1 hour. Drain.
Return beans to the pot and cover with the remaining 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low, stir in chorizo, fennel, onion, and chipotle chiles in adobo, partially cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 hours.
Transfer soup to a blender, in batches if necessary, and blend until it forms a smooth purée. Return soup to the pot, add salt and pepper, stir, and heat over medium heat until hot, then add shrimp and cook until they are orange-red, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve soup in individual bowls garnished with tostadas and crumbled cheese.
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 631 | Calories |
| 25g | Fat |
| 71g | Carbs |
| 34g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 4 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 631 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 25g | 32% |
| Saturated Fat 10g | 48% |
| Cholesterol 51mg | 17% |
| Sodium 2933mg | 128% |
| Total Carbohydrate 71g | 26% |
| Dietary Fiber 16g | 56% |
| Total Sugars 5g | |
| Protein 34g | |
| Vitamin C 6mg | 28% |
| Calcium 253mg | 19% |
| Iron 6mg | 31% |
| Potassium 1640mg | 35% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
