cook eat drink • lemony black bean soup

Laura from Cubits here. Cubits is all about rare, heirloom & organic urban vegetable garden seeds. So naturally we're into our veggies. This recipe is from a soup swap that some friends and I participated in for National Soup Swapping day last year (read more about it here). Basically you make and divide a big batch of soup, your friends do the same, and then you get together and trade soup.s You want to make sure it's a reasonable amount, like 8-12 jars per soup, well labelled for people with allergies and intolerances, and ready to freeze. It's great fun!

Enjoy!

Catherine's lemony, not-like-chili Black Bean Soup (adapted from Laurel's Kitchen)

1 1/2 cups black turtle beans
1 1/2 quarts/litres vegetable stock
2 T oil
1 carrot
1 onion
1 potato
2 stalks celery
1 bay leaf
1 t oregano
1/4 t savory
2 t salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

Wash the turtle beans and put them in a saucepan along with the stock and 1 T oil.

Cover tightly, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours or so, until beans are quite tender.

Chop the onion and saute in the remaining oil until soft.

Chop the celery, including the leaves.

Grate potato and carrot on a large grater.

Add celery, potato, and carrot to onion and cook over medium heat for several minutes, stirring all the while.

Add the vegetables to the beans, along with the seasonings, in the last hour of their cooking.

Bring the soup to a boil and lower the heat to simmer until the beans and vegetables are done.

Add the lemon juice

Add lemon slices when the soup has finished cooking.

Makes about 9 cups.