Black Bean Soup with Black Rice has an earthy flavor from both the beans and black rice but gets its zing from hot chilies and smoked salt!
Black Beans
There are beans and then there is Black Beans! Let’s face it, black beans have way more flavor than most other beans.
Black beans cook easily and take on a soft, creamy texture. The flavor is a little more earthy, yet mild and quite honestly I just love how beautiful they look in a bowl of hot black bean soup.
While you can buy black beans already cooked in a can, dried black beans are very easy to cook. When cooking the dried beans, I find I am able to impart even more flavor by tossing in a few cloves of garlic and adding a smokey salt.
For a scrumptious spread for sandwiches, or burritos I created a Black Bean Wrap with a Spinach Glaze. Totally a meal in itself!
Black Rice
While it was once said that Black Rice used to belong only to the upper class, it is now affordable to most anyone, and the flavor is defiantly ‘top shelf’!
While black rice is rich in antioxidants, fiber and many other health benefits, I cook black rice simply for the flavor.
The flavor is almost nutty, slightly roasted in taste. When black rice is cooked, it takes on a beautiful earthy color and deliciously satisfying flavor.
Black rice may take a little longer to cook and become soft than par-cooked white rice, but it is so worth the extra time.
If you choose to cook the black beans from their dried state, then both the black rice and black beans can cook together.
For another impressive ‘black’ food presentation, I love to make Squid Ink Pasta, with squid, for a Halloween dinner party.
Blackened Smoked Salt
Smoked salt is my new favorite ingredient when cooking meats, soups and stews. The smokey flavor makes it extra special instead of just salty.
Smoked salt, like most other herbs that take on a smoke flavor, has been smoked with a variety of types of wood, for several days. Smoked salt is easy to find now and certainly worth adding to your pantry.
If the smoked salt is Hawaiian lava salt, the color will be even deeper and makes for a beautiful finishing salt, well, maybe not in this black bean soup, since its already black, but certainly over your egg salad sandwich!
Black Cumin In My Black Bean Black Rice Soup
I am not a fan of brown cumin from the cumin seed, but that’s just me. But black cumin? Oh my, the taste and smell is totally different.
Black cumin, also known as nigella sativa, has a sweeter taste than brown cumin, almost a citrusy caraway-like flavor. Much more refreshing.
When black cumin is ground, it looks almost like pepper but more black. I used black cumin in a variety of my seasoning blends but find it quite delicious alone in an omelette.
In keeping with my black beans, black rice, black salt in my exotic tasting soup, I just knew black cumin what exactly what it needed.
Chili Peppers
When making this scrumptious black ‘everything’ soup, I knew it needed color from one particular place… Heat!
While you can use dried chili flakes in this soup for a little heat, freshly chopped chilies, which I often have an abundance of in my freezer from my summer gardens, give the soup not only heat, but a that fresh almost tangy flavor that you can’t get from dried flakes.
Black Bean Soup
I first made this black bean soup for a Halloween gathering. I wanted it to be dark, darker and darkest! It was! Now I make this soup throughout the winter and love it.
The deep earthy flavors that came from the beans, rice, black cumin and smoked salt have made this a black bean soup more enhanced in every way.
Most often black bean soup will be flavored by boiling smoked bones, ham or other heavily flavored meats. I wanted this black bean soup to taste of black beans!
There are plenty of layers of flavor in this soup. Meat broth or bones are not really needed. The flavors are rich all on its own!
For a fun contrast in black bean soup, I made a white bean soup, with milder flavors, and served them both at a home gathering.
How To Make Black Bean Soup
This black bean soup couldn’t be easier. All you need is a big ole pot, one that will hold at least 10 cups of water and several cups of dried ingredients that will swell when cooked.
Everything goes into the pot, brought to a boil, lowered and simmers for an hour or more.
To make the base of the soup thicker, simply scoop out a cup or more, of the beans and rice after they are cooked, puree in the blender and add back to the soup. Thick, creamy, dark and delicious!
Ingredients Needed
- Black beans
- Black rice
- Onions
- Celery
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Smoked salt
- Thai chilies
- Oregano
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Olive oil
- Water
Equipment Needed
- Soup pot with a lid
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Immersion blender or food processor
- Stovetop or burner
Black Bean Soup with Black
Ingredients
- Dried black beans – 2 cups
- Black rice – 2 cups
- Celery – 4 stalks
- Onion – 1 large
- Carrots – 6
- Garlic – 3 cloves
- Smoked salt – 1 tablespoon
- Thai chilies – 3
- Oregano – 1 tablespoon
- Thyme – 1 teaspoon
- Rosemary – 1 tablespoon
- Olive oil – 2 tablespoons
- Water – 10 cups
Instructions
- Boil water in a kettle
- Finely chop the onions, celery and carrots.
- Heat up the pot with the olive oil. Toss in the onions, celery and carrots and give a stir.
- Add the remaining ingredients including boiling water.
- Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, put the lid on and cook for an hour or until the beans are soft.
Notes
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
