Recipe blogging: Black Bean Soup

I’m back again after a whirlwind trip to South Carolina to visit Doc-wife’s relatives and celebrate her 10^th-anniversary-of-turning-30 birthday (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!) It was a nice trip but a long-ass drive.

We brought back a HUGE can of black beans with us which one of their renters had left in a house when they moved out. Lacking any other culinary inspiration at supper time yesterday, I made some black bean soup which turned out to be pretty tasty. That makes it time again for some completely lame recipe blogging.

So, without further ado:

Rantmeister’s Spicy Black Bean Soup
1 huge can…institutional size (a gallon?)…of black beans
2 pounds ham, cubed into ½-inch pieces
2 medium yellow onions…chop coarsely
3 large carrots…cut into 3/8” thick slices
2 large stalks celery, sliced ¼ inch thick, include the leaves if possible
1 can diced tomatoes and chilies
2 cans chicken broth
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1-1/2 tbs cumin* (*approximate…I don’t measure these things)
3 tsp six-pepper spice mix from Sam’s Club* (see previous note)
3 tsp coarse garlic salt* (do I have to say it?)
1 tsp paprika* (duh!)
¼ cup vegetable or peanut oil

Place oil in large Dutch oven type pan over medium-low heat. Add ham, onions, carrots and celery. Cover and cook until they start to soften. Add tomatoes, one can broth, bouillon cubes and spices. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and add beans and remaining broth, stir, cover and simmer over low heat for at least an hour.