Black bean soup

Every November brings "the hunt". T grew up in Northern Ontario with lots of uncles and cousins and they all get together on the family property on Manitoulin Island for a week during deer season.
All these men bring a meal (and desserts) to share and T is no exception.
This years contribution was spicy black bean soup. It was tasty and there was a lot of it!
I made a double batch and it made for two meals, which was perfect for them from what I am told.

I only remembered to take a picture of the mirepoix mixture, not of the soup itself. Silly me. But this smelled so, so good!




Ingredients:

• For the beans:
• 1 lb dry black beans
• 1  bell red pepper
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 
  
• For the soup:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 red pepper minced
• 1 large onion, minced
• 2 medium carrots, shredded
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup white wine (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 chicken or vegetable bullion cubes
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the beans and place in a large pot with about 8-10 cups of water. 
2. Cover and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let the beans sit, covered for one hour. (Or you can let them soak overnight in cold water)
3. Drain the water, then add 8-10 cups of cold water when ready to cook. Add the bell pepper, 4 garlic cloves, onion and bay leaves to the beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about an hour or until tender, stirring occasionally. You might need to add a little more water, depending on the beans.
4. In a large, deep frying pan, add the olive oil and heat. Add in the chopped vegetables (onion, parsley, carrots, pepper, garlic).  Sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft.
5. Add the vegetables into the beans then add vinegar, wine, cumin, oregano, bullion, salt and pepper.
6. Cover and allow to simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes. 
7. Remove bay leaves, and use an immersion blender on pulse to partially blend the soup for about 10 seconds to allow to thickening. If you don't have an immersion blender you can put about 3 or 4 cups of the soup into a blender, pulse until some of the beans are broken down and then add this slurry back into the soup. Try to get  beans/veggies into the blender, not all  liquid, but also make sure to leave some beans intact for the soup!
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serve and top with a little sour cream/greek yogurt, chopped green onions, chives or cilantro.