I remembered (too late) the reason that tomatoes should be added at the END of the cooking: dried beans don't get soft if acid (vinegar tomatoes etc.) are added before the beans are soft. I thought it was odd but followed the recipe almost exactly (no ham was wasted at least) because of all the good reviews. When I re-read the reviews I noticed a lot of the reviewers mentioned using canned beans and maybe others used them also. So important tips: Canned Beans - Use less water (go by looks you can add more later if you need it) and a lot less salt. No need to cook 2 hours. Carrots - I followed the recipe and I thought the grated carrots looked very unappetizing in the cooked soup. Chopped work much better. Dried beans - Either soak the beans overnight or quick soak (boil 10 minutes then let sit covered for and hour). DO NOT ADD TOMATOES until the beans are soft. TOO LATE? If you've already been cooking the recipe as written for 2 to 3 hours when you read this and still can't stomach the firm beans you can put the beans in a blender if you didn't add the ham. I used some of the blended beans to make the Black Bean Vegetable Soup from the site. If I hadn't had those additional ingredients I would have had to order pizza.
This soup was so good that my picky three-year-old slurped the broth and the hubs called it my "cure-all" tonic because it wiped away his stomachache. I used three cans of black beans (and no extra salt) instead of dried; no bay leaf (didn't have any); 4 pressed garlic cloves instead of minced garlic and garlic powder. I also used 3 crumbled slices of bacon in place of the enormous amount of ham because we were in the mood for a more veggie-oriented soup.
All I can say is YUMMY! Made this soup for dinner last night and my whole family enjoyed it. I followed some of the other reviewers recommendation of adding a neckbone or ham hock to the soup and cutting back on the salt content. I omitted the salt and increased the celery salt from 1 teaspoon to 2 teaspoon. I also added more cayenne pepper to add some spice. I must say all of the ingredients for this soup was easy to find and I had the majority of it on hand. I will definitely make this soup again. The flavor is GREAT and so easy to fix! Thanks!
Yummy on a cold night! Hubby thought it a little salty and said he'd at least cut salt in half next time. Served with a little sour cream & shredded cheese on top. Will definitely make again. Already planning it for when we have leftover pork loin and will use in place of ham! Thanks - good recipe.
This was pretty good. Nice & spicy. Although I did make a few changes. The biggest was to omit the ham as I wanted a non-meat version. My mistake there was that I should have use 8 cups of water/broth instead of 10. And instead of diced tomatoes I used about 2 cups of salsa which I didn't add until about 2.5 hours later when the beans were cooked through (since the acid in tomatoes doesn't let beans cook through). Then I blended a little bit of the soup with an immersion blender just to make it a little smoother. Can't wait to have it for lunch today!
I followed this recipe (I usually use a recipe as a guide) and it was very salty. I wish I had read the review first that said to cut the salt in half as I think that would have made it just right.
YUM!!!! This is delicious w/ just the right amt of "spice." I had previously cooked the black beans so used 8 C water vs the 10 C called for. Also since I was busy I put all ingred. in the crockpot & let it simmer away on low. I typically blend 1/2 of my soup(s) w/ an infusion blender to thicken but I would NOT recommend that w/ this recipe b/c you'll get a grainy texture (I tried it). Also I might suggest one remember that black beans are firm & need alot of soak/simmer time. I soaked mine overnight & also simmered for several hours b/c I like them on softer side. THANX Angchick. This is a definite keeper!
Wonderful hearty soup! I cooked my Christmas hambone in some water and 2 cans of chicken broth and then pulled the meat off and added the remainder of the ingredients (used canned beans). I also put in a couple of chipotle chilies - WOW! Really heated that broth up. I ended up adding almost a full can of tomato juice and threw in some cooked white rice to cut down the fire. Still had great flavor and warmed us up on a cold rainy night!
Wow this is good soup! I crumbled 5 strips of bacon instead of all that ham. I also added a 1/2 tsp of cumin and omitted the celery. This is a fabulous flavorful soup! Thanks for sharing!!
