Black Bean Soup

This recipe came from a food storage pamphlet the Columbus Ohio Stake put out.

1 1/2 cups dried black beans
vegetable oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley for garnish
4 cups soaking water
2 medium onions, chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed thyme
sour cream to garnish, optional

Pick over and clean beans. Rinse then place in bowl with soaking water. Place in refrigerator to soak overnight then drain and discard water. Add enough vegetable oil to large saucepan to saute onion and garlic. Saute over medium heat about 2 minutes then add tomatoes and herbs. Cook about 5 more minutes then add drained beans to saucepan, cover with three cups water and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered about  2 hours. Add more water if necessary to prevent beans from drying out. When beans are tender drain and reserve bean broth. Process beans in blender or food processor until smooth. Add enough of the reserved bean broth to make soup consistency. Return soup to saucepan and heat through. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and top with sour cream and sprinkle with parsley as desired.

Makes 5 one cup servings.

We all liked this. I don'r think I drained the beans, but instead just blended it all up together. The consistency was perfect. The only thing we would change is to use some chicken bouillon
to give it a little more flavor.

This will be a good recipe for us to have around if times ever get really rough and we have to live off our dry bean supply.