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Mexican Black Bean Soup

I think of black beans in Mexican cuisine as an almost upscale replacement for pinto beans, but in actual fact, they have been part of the meso-American culinary repertoire for thousands of years. This is a simple, flavorful, nutritious one-pot meal.

Ingredients

serves 4 to 6

2 cups dried black beans
8 cups water
1 white onion, finely diced
Salt to taste (smoked, if possible)
1/2 cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco or feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
4 corn tortillas, sliced into 1/8-inch-wide strips and fried until crisp, or 1/3 cup corn chips, crumbled into large pieces, for garnish
  1. Step 1

    Thoroughly wash the beans and place them, along with the water and onion, in the slow cooker insert. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.

    Step 2

    Using a handheld immersion blender, purée some of the beans to thicken the soup. (How much you purée depends on how much texture you’d like remaining in the soup.)

    Step 3

    Add salt to taste, then ladle into bowls. Top each serving with some crumbled cheese, a sprinkle of cilantro, and some tortilla strips.

  2. Suggested Beverage

    Step 4

    This is a relatively mild dish, so I’d choose a chilled, medium-bodied white wine, perhaps with a little spice. A Gewürztraminer or even an off-dry Muscat Canelli would work well. A beer would do nicely, too.

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