Black Bean and Kielbasa Soup

We tried this for the first time two weeks ago and it's a keeper. It's tasty and I love slow-cooker recipes- they are so easy - so I'm sure I will make this often this winter.

The base of the recipe came from a cookbook I got from the library months ago and didn't write down the name of - typical - but I have made quite a few changes.

Now, I'm sure you can see from the picture that there are other beans besides black in my version and that's because I only had one pint of black beans in the freezer cooked and ready to go. I feel that beans are pretty interchangeable in soups, (except, I guess black bean soup) so I used a pint each of white beans and black-eyed peas.

I think I liked it better with the different beans (and peas? I don't think black-eyed peas are a true bean, but they had black on them, so I went with it...), it was nicer to look at and more complex in flavor.

Ah, who am I kidding? I can't tell the difference between bean flavors, I just like to use what I have!

So much for my attempt at being a food snob.

OK, you're gonna love this: not too many ingredients, not too much prep, throw it in the cooker and dinner's done!

As you can see from the frost, this is pretty much a freezer/pantry meal. I don't usually buy kielbasa, but this was on super-sale. I'd make this with whatever sausage I had in the freezer and if it wasn't pre-cooked, I'd cook it up when sauteing the onions.

The other ingredients include garlic, corn, onion, chopped peppers (sweet or not- here I used Anaheim's), tomatoes, and of course the beans. Home-canned or frozen tomatoes would be perfect for this, but I didn't get enough this year to have plain tomatoes (I used all mine in salsas, sauces, and bruschetta topping).

There are some spices I used, too, that didn't make it in the picture.

A note on the beans: I precook beans when I have time (often when I'm in the kitchen anyway preparing dinner), then freeze them in one and two "can" size containers to be ready for recipes and salads that call for canned beans. See the method here and the cost breakdown- it's worth it!




Saute one chopped onion in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes, add a couple of minced garlic cloves toward the end.




While the onions are cooking, defrost the beans (if using frozen ones), if needed.

Raise your hand if you never remember to take things out of the freezer early!




Dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker, adding 2-1/2 cups water or broth.




Now add the spices I forgot in the ingredient picture: salt (careful if using broth), pepper, oregano, and a few drops of Tabasco as desired (we desire a fare amount around here).




Stir it up, cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours (or low for 6-8 hours).

Serve with bread and some carrot dippers and call it done.




Here it looks nice sprinkled with some fresh, chopped parsley, but it's purely optional.

Black Bean and Kielbasa Soup

• 5-6 c. cooked black beans (3 cans)
• 2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• one onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb. cooked, smoked kielbasa (or other sausage), halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 2 c. frozen corn
• 1 c. chopped peppers, sweet or mildly hot (like anaheims)
• 2-1/2 cups water or broth
• 1 tsp. oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• Tabasco to taste
• fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

1. Saute onion in pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, adding garlic toward the end.
2. Scrape into slow cooker (5 qt.) and add all the remaining ingredients, stir to combine.
3. Cover and cook on high heat for 3-4 hours or low heat for 6-8 hours.
4. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, if desired, before serving.
   

Makes 8 servings (for less than $3.00 if using pre-cooked beans, garden produce, and super sale meat and tomatoes- still under $5 if having to buy the produce!)

-Jami