Charlie is a big fan of soup — as, indeed, am I. He makes soup pretty much the way I do: This sounds good and that sounds good and we have some of this…. SOUP!
The other day, he made some really good stuff. He looked at a can of black beans with Southwestern Flavoring and saw a recipe on the back for black beans and rice, and thought that would be a good combination for soup.
“But,” he says, “I don’t know how long to cook rice.”
I sez, sez I, “Takes twenty minutes.”
Charlie: “I don’t know how much to use.”
Me: “Twice as much water as rice.”
Charlie: “What does that mean?”
Me: “…However much rice you use, use twice that amount of water.”
Charlie: “Smartass.”
But, between the two of us, we put together a good soup.
CHARLIE’S BLACK BEAN SOUP
- 1 can black beans with southwestern flavoring (or plain, if you don’t like cumin)
- 1/3 cup rice
- 4 cups water
- chopped onion
- 2 2-cup bouillon cubes
- 1 can hominy
Combine everything but hominy and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add hominy and heat through.
Personally, I like a bit of garlic-flavored olive oil added, but that’s just me.
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Two characters cook together.
MA
Jim Hilton
November 7, 2012 at 6:25pmI made the black bean soup – I couldn’t find that flavor of beans so I added chili powder and cumin, then added some diced ham.
Really good!
Thanks!
Marian Allen
November 8, 2012 at 7:50amAh, Jim, that sounds good! If I had been the soup sheriff, I would have toasted the onion and spices in olive oil (or, in your case, ham fat — in the case of your soup, I mean, not you, personally) and then added it to the soup. But it WAS really good, and I’ll bet yours was, too!