Hearty Black Bean Soup

This is a hearty and savory soup that is chock full of black beans and is perfect on a cold wintery day. To give it a rich and smoky taste without bacon, I added some sun dried tomatoes and grated smoked tofu. And if you don’t care for tofu, don’t worry; you only taste the smokiness, not the tofu.

HEARTY BLACK BEAN SOUP [VEGAN, GRAIN-FREE]

INGREDIENTS

• 6 cups cooked black beans, canned or dry beans soaked and boiled (see notes)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup smoked tofu, finely grated
• 2 medium-size cooking onions, chopped
• 4 to 5 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 jalapeño pepper (red or green), seeds removed and chopped small
• 10 sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon fresh or dry rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups pure tomato purée, no added salt or sugar
• 4 cups vegetable stock, preferably homemade
• 1-2 cups water (add more if need be)
• 2 bay leaves
• Ground pepper
• Salt (optional, with sun-dried tomatoes you may not need to add salt)

PREPARATION

1. Soften the sun-dried tomatoes in a small bowl covered with warm water. Set aside.
2. Heat up a big non-stick soup pot with olive oil. On medium heat, add the smoked tofu, onions, garlic, jalapeño pepper and sauté until the onions are soft, about 6 minutes. Add a little water if ingredients stick to the bottom.
3. Chop the softened sun-dried tomatoes into chunks and discard water. Add them to the pot with cumin, rosemary and oregano. Sauté all ingredients for another 3 minutes adding a little water if it sticks. It should smell fragrant at this stage.
4. Strain and rinse the beans. Set aside.
5. Add the tomato purée, vegetable stock, water, and half of the cooked beans and simmer for another 5 minutes with lid on. Then, process directly in the pot with a handheld blender until smooth.
6. Add bay leaves, ground pepper. Add the remaining half of the beans and simmer for another 10-15 minutes stirring from time to time.

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