“Soup is the song of the hearth… and the home.”
Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949)
There is nothing quite like a bowl of home made soup on a cold rainy Autumnal day. Usually when making soup I take my time; allowing things to gently simmer for hours, enjoying the process of flavours developing and coming together and breathing in the rich aroma of herbs and spices as they fill my kitchen. For me making soup is very much like brewing up a magic potion. It is a sacred ritual and something to be savoured – I enjoy the process as much as I enjoy eating the soup!
However I do understand that sometimes you just want to curl yourself round a big comforting bowl of soup as quickly as you can. That was certainly the case for me when I went out for a weekend walk and got caught in a sudden downpour. With no where to hide and no umbrella, I got soaked. By the time I got home I was chilled to the bone and to be honest, was also slightly cranky. What I needed was the powerful healing magic of soup!
Fortunately earlier on in the week I bought ingredients to make Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup. While browsing the Spark People website, this recipe shared by member SOUSRATURE, caught my eye. It is extremely healthy, uses an ingredient (black beans or turtle beans) which I have never used before and takes all of 20 minutes to prepare and cook. It did take me a little longer as I don’t have a hand held blender so had to transfer some of the soup into my glass blender. Still the soup was on the table within 30 minutes!
I had always been under the assumption that soup needed to bubble away for ages in order for deep flavours to develop and emerge but this soup was one of the most delicious I have ever tasted. The only changes I made was to use a Spanish Onion, add a pinch of nutmeg (of course) and an extra clove of garlic.
This is definitely a dish I will make again and again. If you love good wholesome tasty soup then do yourself a favour and get in your kitchen and brew up this magical recipe. I promise you’ll love it!
Here is Sousrature’s recipe as seen on Spark People:
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
2 med. sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup of rinsed black beans
1 cup sweet vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
3 cups veggie broth
1-2 bay leaves
.5 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Lightly spray bottom of sauce pan with olive oil and sweat the onion and garlic over low heat.
Add chopped sweet potatoes and beans and cook briefly.
Add water, 3 vegetable bouillon cubes, cinnamon and bay leaf. Turn up heat slightly and cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes soften.
Remove bay leaf and blend just a bit with hand blender–be sure to leave some nice big chunks of sweet potato for contrast. Pop it back over the heat for a minute, then serve with an optional sprinkling of brown sugar and/or dollop of light sour cream on top.
NOTE: Full of fiber, protein, and vitamins, this soup is filling enough to be a stand-alone meal! The black beans and orange sweet potatoes also look great together. (Tip: Use low-sodium broth to cut the salt content.)
Number of Servings: 2
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup