A Big Pot of Black Bean Soup

By using a slow cooker to cook the dried black beans for this soup, you can spend 5 minutes in the morning getting it going, then finish it off just before dinnertime without too much trouble.  It took me about a half hour or so to chop the vegetables and get everything into the pot, then another half hour or so to cook while I cleaned up and did other stuff around the kitchen.  Pretty easy! This makes a big pot of soup, about 6 quarts, which is enough to share with friends or a big family, or to last a small family all week long! It is hearty and flavorful, a bit spicy but not really hot spicy. Environmentally friendly because 

a) no meat

b) you are using dried beans instead of canned (less garbage, fewer resources used to produce the food) 

First, cook the black beans, starting in the morning.  This will only take about 5 minutes, so do not be intimidated! 

Combine in 6 qt or larger slow cooker:

5 cups dried black beans (no need to soak them!)

½ large yellow onion, peeled but not cut up

1 piece dried kombu

1 garlic clove, whole

1 tsp ground chipotle pepper or 1 whole dried chipotle pepper

water to cover all, leave a couple inches at top per slow cooker manufacturer instructions to allow optimal slow cooking

Cook on low temperature for 8-10 hours.

Then, in the evening, drain beans, discarding the onion, garlic clove and kombu that flavored them.

extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ large yellow onions, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 large green pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, pressed

26.5 oz. container chopped tomatoes (I like the kind in cartons, rather than cans)

4 cups water

1 ½ tsp salt

1 TBS dried oregano

1 TBS ground cumin

Chopped cilantro and sour cream or cashew cream to garnish