What a delicious way to pack in some nutrition while enjoying a tasty soup! This black beans soup is all about the flavors. So filling and satisfying, this soup is a one dish meal.
Now that we are well into the fall and heading towards Thanksgiving, my appetite is shifting towards warmer, more filling or heavier foods like the ones that “suggests” the body to pack in some extra calories as a primal protection for the cold and lack of hunting activities or harvest. Except that this rule no longer applies as we humans no longer hunt for our food or need to harvest in order to eat. We live in a plentiful world where we have access to all food at all times, and now with the internet, it is simply one click away.
However some things are engraved in our DNA memory and so we instinctively do it. For me in many ways, this is the same as eating beans. Growing up in Brazil, beans are an everyday food… seriously! I don’t know where this comes from but everyone eats beans everyday. Nowadays I don’t eat beans nearly as much but when I do I love it!
This recipe is the original Brazilian beans recipe but here in the US it is mostly categorized as soup. When I cook my beans and because the original recipe does require some time investment, I like to cook a whole bag, which makes a large pot of beans and that’s good because beans freezes really well. I do make a few different recipes out of my large pot of beans, so that’s definitely fun and versatile, making this recipe well worth my time, plus not to mention how amazingly nutritional beans are!
Okay I don’t mean to scare you when I say “time investment”, it is my choice to cook dry beans, I like it because I get to use my pressure cooker that my mom gave me, but you can opt for canned beans. In that case you can adjust the recipe according to the instruction in recipe card below.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe, it’s always nice to share a recipe that relates to me in a more personal way. Please feel free to email me or comment below should you have any questions or comments about this recipe.
See you soon!!
- 1 lb dry organic black beans (or 4 cans or cooked black beans)
- 1 box organic chicken broth
- ¼ lb pork belly
- ½ tbsp salt
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- cilantro
- Soak beans for 12-24 hours prior to cooking
- Rince the beans in cold water and place them in a pressure cooker
- Add some water until the beans are covered and to cover about ¾ of the pot.
- Add the remaining ingredients and cook for about 45 minutes.
- Remove from heat and wait until all the pressure is released before opening the pressure cooker.
- Serve immediately. It stays refrigerated for up to 5 days. Freezes well.
- For canned beans instructions, skip the chicken broth and pork belly (that's just for flavoring anyway!) and go ahead and add the spices and flavorings. NOTE, If your canned beans are already salted DO NOT ADD MORE SALT!
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