Food You Can Eat: Black Bean and Chorizo Soup

First things first:  My grocery store seems to have some kind of moral objection to carrying pinto beans.  They haven’t had them on the shelves for going on two years now.  I bought a package of black beans, just in case the next store I went to likewise didn’t have any pintos.  The good news is I found the pintos at the other store so I could make green chile stew.  The bad news is that I had a package of black beans with which I needed to do something.  So, here we are.

A caveat before we get started:  I live over 2,000 miles from real chorizo, so I had to make do with the Johnsonville brand.  Johnsonville makes good Italian Sausages and excellent Bratwurst.  Their chorizo is…serviceable, but will do in a pinch as in the case here.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Pkg. Black Beans, dry

2 Bacon Strips, minced

Olive Oil

1 Onion, diced

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 Pkg. Chorizo, uncooked

Green Chiles, roasted (I used a jar of 505 green chiles that my mother had sent me and until now didn’t have a use for.)

Salt, Pepper, Oregano and Cumin, to taste

Put the dry beans in a pot with enough water to cover them.  Put a lid on the pot, bring to a boil and then simmer for 90 minutes.  Add water periodically if necessary to keep the beans covered.

In a separate pot over medium heat, cook the bacon until rendered.  Then pour in the olive oil and onions and sauté until the onions are lightly browned.

Add the garlic, chorizo and green chiles and sauté for a few minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Add the black beans, along with their cooking liquid, along with the seasonings, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, to let everything come together.

Garnish with shredded cheese and serve with flour tortillas.

This is pretty good.  If I can get my hands on some real chorizo in the future, then I’ll probably make this again.