Black Beans and Rice Soup

Black Beans & Rice Soup

Down south there is a tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck. When I was growing up, my Italian family believed that eating lentils on New Year's Day would bring good luck in the new year. Personally, I believe that eating any beans or legumes is a good thing anytime, and if eating them New Year's Day bring you good luck, then that's just a bonus. Living in a city in which the majority of the residents are Latino, we eat a LOT of rice and beans. Life is good here, so I'd say we're pretty darn lucky! That being said, I made a huge batch of black beans & rice as part of my New Year's Day feast and we had a mess of them leftover, so I turned the leftovers into a soup by just adding 4 cups of beef stock.


Black Beans & Rice

Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1 1/2 cups instant brown rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp Adobo seasoning
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  
• olive oil
  
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat some olive oil (not the fancy kind, just a good kind) in a heavy pot (medium heat and saute the onions until soft.
Add peppers and saute for 2-5 minutes until they too are soft.
Stir in black beans, rice, and seasonings.
Add water and bring mixture to a boil.
Turn mixture down to a simmer for about 20 minutes until all the water is absorbed.
You now have black beans & rice.
*To make the soup add 4 cups of beef stock and simmer until heated through.

*Since I was using leftover rice & beans, I put the leftovers in a crock pot with the beef stock and let it simmer on low all day


Note: Those gorgeous tortilla chips pictured with the soup are Tostitos new Artisan Garlic and Black Bean tortilla chips. They are ridiculously good! GO GET YOURSELF SOME!

Enjoy!
Christina

Black Bean