Japanese Black Bean Soup

Next to Chili, there is nothing better on a cold and snowy day than a big bowl of Black Bean Soup. In Aizu, it snows a lot! After looking at a lot of recipes on RecipeZaar, I made a list of the things I wanted and headed for the local supermarket. Since labels are written in Japanese, I usually stick to the fresh produce and other things I can recognize. To make a long story short, I cooked the raw black beans I bought for a total of about 12 hours over 3 days and they never did get soft. I blended my soup ingredients anyway and although my black beans blended up black and tan, it still got a thumbs up from Jeff. But this is not the recipe for that soup. This is a recipe for a one pot soup that is delicious and just warms you to the bone! I named it Japanese Black Bean Soup just so you would look!

• Ready In: 1 hr 35 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, with liquid
• 1  large onion, chopped
• 1  large carrot, chopped
• 2  stalks  chopped celery
• 6  large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 (14 1/2ounce) can  drained diced tomatoes
• 2  tablespoons chili powder
• 2  tablespoons cumin (I love cumin!)
• 2  teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
• 2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 1⁄2 cups water
• 1 (16 ounce) can  fat free refried black beans

Directions

1. Most times I can't find chicken broth so I use 2 cans of chicken noodle soup strained so you just have the broth, with water added to equal 5 cups.
2. Put everything in a big pot and cook until the veggies are tender. Put 2/3rds of the soup in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour back into the pot. Add the refried beans as the last step. Why last? They tend to settle on the bottom and can burn. Stir and smash the congealed beans until they are no longer one huge clump o'beans.
3. Variations I have tried include adding salsa, spooning it over rice or mashed potatoes, topping it with sour cream and green onions or just adding some chopped onions on top. Definitely a crowd pleaser!