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Big Sur Black Bean Soup

A hearty soup made with black beans, vegetables, and spices simmered until tender.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Big Sur Black Bean Soup

Time40 to 90 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy stockpot over medium heat.

  2. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, and cook them until they are tender and fragrant, about 15 minutes.

  3. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more.

  4. Add the cumin and red pepper, and stir for 1 minute.

Simmer the beans

  1. Add the black beans and 6 cups of water.

  2. Using a paring knife, make several lengthwise slits in the jalapeno, add it to the soup, and add the bay leaves.

  3. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer the beans until they are completely tender and begin to fall apart, 40 to 90 minutes, depending on the age of the beans.

  4. As the beans cook, add more water, if needed, to keep them from becoming too dry.

  5. Remove and discard the jalapeno and the bay leaves.

Finish and serve

  1. If you like, you can puree half the beans using an immersion blender, or simply cook them for 15 minutes more, until they nearly dissolve.

  2. Stir the soup, taste, and season with salt and pepper.

  3. Ladle into soup bowls and serve immediately.

  4. Or refrigerate, and reheat when ready to serve.

  5. Serve with your favorite salsa, or some grated cheddar cheese, if you like.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

336Calories
11 gProtein
15 gFat
42 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Seednot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Carrot + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together777 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Black beans
Soften into a thick body and, when partly pureed, give the soup its creamy texture.
Onion
Builds a sweet, savory base as it softens and browns slowly in the oil.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens during gentle cooking.
Olive oil
Carries fat-soluble flavor from the aromatics and helps them cook evenly.
Cumin seeds
Release warm, earthy aroma when briefly toasted in the hot oil.

The step that matters

Simmering the beans until fully tender. Dried beans need long, gentle simmering to soften their starch and cell walls evenly. Older beans take longer, so testing for tenderness matters more than the clock. Adding water keeps the beans submerged and prevents scorching or a dry, grainy result.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, cumin, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, cumin, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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