There is always that first day of fall when soup suddenly sounds good again. Maybe the temperature drops just enough, the sky stays gray a little longer or you find yourself reaching for a sweater before heading out the door. Of course, this is Illinois, so fall really means dressing in layers because you might need a jacket at breakfast, short sleeves by lunch and the jacket again before dinner. Whatever signals it, something changes. After months of salads, sandwiches and meals that keep us away from a hot stove, it is finally time to put a pot of soup on. 

One of the easiest mistakes is putting everything into the pot at once. Good soup gets better when you give the ingredients a little time to do their jobs. Start with onion and a little oil, and let it soften. Add garlic once the onion is nearly ready, so it doesn't have time to burn. If you are using dried spices, give them 30 seconds or so in the warm oil before adding your liquid. This is sometimes called “blooming” your spices, and that little bit of heat helps bring out their flavor and aroma. 

Then let the soup simmer. This is where all those individual ingredients start becoming one dish. 

The finishing touches matter too. A little acid at the end can wake up a soup that tastes like it is missing something, even when it has enough seasoning. That might be a splash of vinegar in a lentil or vegetable soup or, my personal favorite, a squeeze of fresh lime. It adds brightness without taking over the other flavors. In this black bean soup, lime is the perfect finishing touch. Texture can make just as much of a difference. Blending a small portion of a bean soup and stirring it back into the pot gives you a thicker, creamier soup without adding any cream. 

That is exactly what makes this simple black bean soup work. It starts with pantry staples, doesn't require hours on the stove and uses a few basic techniques to create much more flavor than you might expect from such a short ingredient list. 

Simple black bean soup 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 small onion, diced 
• 1 small bell pepper, diced 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cumin 
• 2 teaspoons chili powder 
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed 
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 
• Black pepper, to taste 
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Chopped cilantro, sour cream or shredded cheese, for serving, optional

Instructions 

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until softened. 
2. Add the garlic, and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the cumin, chili powder and smoked paprika, and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant. 
3. Add the black beans, broth, salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Bring to a gentle boil; then reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes. 
4. For a thicker soup, remove about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the soup and carefully blend until smooth, and then stir it back into the pot. You can also use an immersion blender directly in the pot, pulsing just a few times while leaving plenty of whole beans and vegetables. 
5. Stir in the lime juice just before serving. Taste, and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Serve with cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese or your favorite toppings.

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.