Black Bean Soup

I have been a slacker in the blogging department, but it's for good reason. On any given day in my house, someone is sick. We have had cold after cold...plus a little teething thrown in for fun. So I haven't been doing much but taking care of the kiddos and trying to keep myself healthy.

Along with the colds has come a lot of soup. Tonight I made a yummy black bean soup. Like most of my recipes, this one is the blending of various recipes plus some random ingredient substitution along the way. I like to keep mine pretty chunky so that you can see there are beans and carrots in it. I like to plop a little sour cream on top and that usually gets the kids to eat it too. Enjoy!



Black Bean Soup

2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, pealed and diced
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
4 cans black beans
3 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
salt & pepper to season

In a large pot, cook bacon and then set aside. Saute onions in bacon fat until tender. Add garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Add carrots and cook until they are tender. Add chili powder, cumin and oregano. Add black beans and chicken broth and reserved bacon. Bring to a boil to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer for 15 - 40 minutes. Add lime juice and mix well. Season with salt & pepper. I also like to add a little Tabasco for spice.

Once the soup is seasoned well, use an immersion blender to puree (or put it in a blender...but that gets messy). You can make it as smooth or as chunky as you like. I've made it all ways, but prefer it slightly chunky so that you can tell what is in it.

Garnish with sour cream!

How to Avoid Eating an Entire Batch of Cookies

I love love love chocolate chip cookies. I live for warm, homemade Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies. I swear it's the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. I love love love these cookies so much, that I'll eat the entire batch myself. My husband might get two, my kids a couple. But then I eat my unfair share, plus the raw dough.

A wise woman in my family (Aunt Colleen? Mom? Cousin Kim? Other Cousin Kim?) taught me that if you freeze your dough in little balls A) You can make fresh baked cookies whenever you want them, and B) You will be less likely to eat them all at once.


Here's what you do:

1. Make your favorite cookie dough recipe as you normally would.
2. Bake up a small batch, if you'd like.
   
3. Put the rest of the dough in the refrigerator to chill for a couple of hours. I just through my KitchenAid bowl right in the frig!
4. After the dough is firm, use a small ice cream scoop to make portion-sized balls.
   
5. Place balls in a freezer bag, making one flat layer.
6. Store in freezer.*
7. When you are ready to bake some cookies, just pull out a couple of dough balls and bake them according to the recipe. You may need to add a little more time since the dough is frozen, but follow your recipe first to be safe...then add time as needed.

*I have no idea how long the dough will keep in the freezer...we usually eat ours up in a week or two.