Cuban Black Bean Soup From Fountain on Locust

Don't you love it when you see a recipe that you want to make, and know that you have all of the ingredients on hand? This is where I found myself last Wednesday while paging through the food section of the Post-Dispatch, spotting a recipe for black bean soup served by a popular eatery in the city called Fountain on Locust. Or, at least I thought I had all the ingredients. As it turned out, I only had one can of black beans, because I’d used the other can in a dip that I’ll be telling you about later.

As long as I didn't have two cans of black beans, I decided to use one can of black beans and one can of cannellini beans. Then, I realized that I didn't have enough homemade chicken stock, so I decided, what the heck, I'll just use 4 teaspoons of ham soup base dissolved in 4 cups of water. Then I thought, huh, I have a ham bone in the freezer, so why not toss it in for good measure?

I knew I wasn't going to stand in front of the stove for all of this -- I didn't want to be bothered with that -- so I threw everything into the crockpot. It turned out to be wonderful soup the way I made it, but I'm sure it's equally as good the way Fountain on Locust makes it as well. The original recipe is below, and it's vegetarian; if you don't mind eating meat and you’d like to try my version, just replace one can of black beans with cannellini, use ham stock, and toss it all into the crockpot with a ham bone. (I let it go on “low” all day long, so about 8 to 10 hours. At the 4-hour spot, I removed the ham bone, cut off the ham, diced it, and added it back into the crockpot, and continued to let it cook until I was ready for dinner.) I garnished with sour cream, diced avocado, diced tomatoes, black olives, and cilantro. It was a meal in a bowl!

Tasty! 

Cuban Black Bean Soup From Fountain on Locust

As appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ medium green pepper, seeded and dice

½ yellow or white onion — not sweet — peeled and diced

½ cup diced carrot piece

¼ cup diced red roasted peppers (I used Melissa’s Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers)

1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, approximately 4 cups, drained and rinsed

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup crushed tomatoes

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon malt vinegar

2 cups cooked rice

½ cup sour cream (optional)

Notes: At the Fountain on Locust, most soups are made a day ahead of serving to allow the flavors to blend.

• The Fountain serves this soup over rice and garnishes it with sour cream. The soup is vegetarian; vegan if no sour cream is added.

1. Pour olive oil into a large 4- or 5-quart heavy-bottom pan. Swirl to coat the bottom, then place over medium-high heat until the oil begins to shimmer.

2. Add chopped green pepper, onions, carrots and roasted red peppers, stir to blend, reduce heat to medium and cook until vegetables begin to soften. Add minced garlic, stir, and cook 1 minute longer.

3. Add drained and rinsed beans, broth, tomatoes, cumin, red pepper flakes, black pepper and chili powder. Stir to blend and simmer until done. If needed, add more broth to the soup to achieve desired consistency.

4. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little. Stir in the malt vinegar.

5. Divide rice evenly into bowls. Ladle soup over the rice. If desired, add a dollop of sour cream for garnish and serve.

Yield: 6 large servings or 8 medium bowls

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