Spooky Black Bean Soup

This recipe is actually called Smoky Black Bean Soup.  But in the spirit of Halloween, I changed the name.  I also altered the original recipe a little. 

Smoky (spooky) Black Bean Soup

1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 chipotle chile, dried or canned in adobo (if using canned, use just a little bit of the adobo)

1 lb dried black beans

4 cups vegetable, chicken, beef stock or water

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lime

Sour Cream or plain yogurt for garnish

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

• Soak black beans in 8 cups water over night in a crock pot . 
• Drain a few cups of water off the beans in the morning.  Add onion, garlic, chili powder, chipotle chile, stock, salt and pepper to the crock pot.  Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. 
• Before serving, puree some of the soup with an immersion blender or in a blender. 
• Add the lime juice and stir, taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.  Serve, garnished with sour cream and cilantro.

The original recipe takes only 30 minutes to cook in a deep pot on the stove.  If you don't think about making this until its too late to slow cook it all day.  The following directions are the original recipe taken from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

• Put 2 tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn, in a large, deep pot over medium heat.  When hot, add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and chili powder and cook, stirring, for another minute.
• Add the chipotle chile, beans (instead of dried use 3 cups canned black beans, drained), stock and some salt and pepper.  Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat.
• Follow the third and four bullet from the above recipe.

A sour cream ghost makes this smoky soup, SPOOKY

This soup is delicious no matter how you choose to prepare it. 

It goes great with your favorite cornbread recipe.

As a side note, Happy Birthday to my mom.