Friday, March 12, 2010

Kathia's Costa Rican Style Black Bean & Egg Soup



Kathia grew up in beautiful Costa Rica where plantains grow on trees and kids run and play outside. I’m lucky she chose me as a friend. Not only is she fun, intelligent, creative, and incredibly loyal, (she’s always the first to defend me), but she shares her childhood recipes too!

I think it was while we were sitting in a Cuban restaurant in Manhattan that she told me about this gorgeous, simple, delicious soup. It’s one of those busy day recipes, as Kathia tosses the black beans into the slow cooker before work and finishes the soup when she arrives home.

If I was in Costa Rica I’d be adding chopped plantains to the beans, but since my access to decent plantains is zero, I used carrots to sweeten the deal. If you find quality plantains, using them will make this more authentic.

Kathia I am so grateful to have you as my friend! Thank-you for this terrific staple recipe.

Slow Cooker Black Beans
With this method you won't need to soak the beans overnight.

1 pound dried black beans
1 clove garlic
6 cups hot water
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

1. Rinse beans well in a colander, then spread out on a baking sheet and sort out any rocks or bad looking beans. Place the beans in a slow cooker, and the garlic clove, and cover with hot water. Do not salt the beans at this point or the skins will get tough.

2. Cook on low heat for 5 to 6 hours. Test for doneness. Turn off the heat and add the salt. Let the beans rest until you’re ready to start the soup.

Kathia's Costa Rican Style Black Bean & Egg Soup
For a hearty vegan meal, skip the egg and sour cream garnish.

¼ cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large bell pepper, your choice of color
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Lots of freshly cracked black pepper to taste
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1/3 cup water for deglazing pot
1 recipe slow cooked black beans, above
Eggs, 1 per person

1. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium high and add the onion, carrots, bell pepper, sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir to combine and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender and the onions start to brown. About 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Add the water to the pot and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Meanwhile puree 2 cups of the black beans with the garlic clove they were cooked with. Add the puree and the rest of the black beans with their liquid to the soup pot. Cook stirring often until bubbly.

3. Carefully crack the eggs into prep bowls, one per prep bowl. Then slide eggs gently into the soup pot and cover with a lid. Cook for a couple of minutes until the egg whites solidify but leave the yolks runny to taste.

4. To serve, scoop up the beans with an egg into individual bowls. Garnish as desired and serve with tortillas.

Garnish Suggestions
Diced avocado
Diced tomatoes
Chopped cilantro
Slices of lime
Sour cream
Tortillas

Recipe adapted slightly from Kathia Castro from Pink Little Cake. Picture by Laura Flowers.


32 comments:

Fresh Local and Best said...

This looks like a great protein packed vegetarian meal with lots of good flavor.

Carrie said...

What an interesting recipe! It looks delicious, and I love all of the toppings that you added.

CinnamonAndSass said...

Wow. This is something I never would have put together in my head but it looks amazing!

Pink Little Cake said...

Laura, you are so sweet. Thank you so much for getting me good memories from Costa Rica, your words are awesome. The soup is delicious, as you already know. I am also bless to have you as a friend. mmm. I am thinking about or dinner at Victor's!

Sue said...

This soup looks fabulous! I love everything in it! YUM!

Diana's Cocina said...

Laura what a great friend you have. The two of you are so blessed to have each other. The soup sounds wonderful! It reminds me of my Mom's Black Bean Soup with homesmade tortilla's. It puts a smile on my face.

Vrinda said...

Lovely soup with egg and black beans..

Federica Simoni said...

come sempre una ricetta meravigliosa!! ciao!

Amber said...

This looks delicious and healthy! Yum!

Tiffiny Felix said...

Black beans are my favorite! We go through a *ton* :) Beautiful picture, as always ;)

Also, I have an award for you over at my blog. Come to think of it, is this the 2nd time I've given you an award? lol...I must love your stuff! :)

Annie said...

My husband and I were in Costa Rica in college and we had something yummy like this every day. This brings back some great memories-delicious recipe! What an awesome friend you have!

Mimi said...

I love black bean soup and using the crock pot to make it is a great idea.
Mimi

Sook said...

Oh what a fantastic dish! Black beans are one of very few kinds of beans that I actually like! :)

Veronica M. said...

Love the blog, love the pic, hate the recipe! It's just that egg on top that gets me--can't do it, girl! Love you. Please forgive me! Did you like the egg on top?

The Cooking Photographer said...

Hi V.,

I loved the egg on top, but I adore runny eggs.

Dishboy Scott is terrified of runny eggs and had his egg free. I made fun of him the whole time of course lol.

L

Cathy said...

I love this kind of meal, so full of wonderful flavors. The egg on top is perfect, and all those delicious toppings...yum.

Cristie said...

Laura, this is my kind of meal. Thanks so much for posting this. How delicious it sounds and love that it is made in a crock pot for busy people!

EMC said...

Wow, this is a huge improvement over simple, slow cooked black beans, which I rely on A LOT, but it's still easy enough that I can focus on the bane of my existence (grading). Kudos to Kathia, I'm trying this next week!

Chef Fresco said...

Laura, thank you posting this as I sit down to write my grocery list. We will notify you when we re-post your recipe. Looks delicious!

VegeCooking Club said...

Gorgeous photo Laura! I love all the flavors in this recipe. In fact I just made a Southwest salad that I haven't posted yet that is very similar to what goes into this.

Southern Cookbook said...

Laura, I love black beans. This looks wonderful. Always looking for new black bean recipes. Picture looks awesome! :)
~Southern Cookbook
~Cheryl

Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction said...

Black beans are one of my favorites... Never thought to use a slow cooker, though. Brilliant!

Meena said...

Beautiful pics...but then so r all the other pics on your blog...that is an aaweso me talent you have there...keep posting!!

Trissa said...

Even with the black beans, this has to be one of the most beautiful soups I've seen! It looks so colorful! I'm glad your friend shared the recipe with you.

Stella said...

This is my kind of meal. I love soup loaded with other flavorful and healthful items like that-the egg is really decadent sounding too!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

I love bean soups - hearty, healthy, easy on the wallet. The egg component is new to me, and I can't wait to try it.

Anonymous said...

Well, this is a treat, my dad spends most winters in Costa Rica, and he loves the food. This is a keeper for next time i go to visit him! Love the egg. perfect!

Dgrub said...

Your black beans photos are amazing and recipes sounds decent enough for a try. I have a post on how to make black beans from scrath without any seasoning at http://desigrub.com/2010/03/glorious-black-beans/ > Let me know if you find it useful.

Katie VanBlaricum said...

This was a great soup! Thanks for the recipe and photographic inspiration! FYI, I cooked my egg until is was no longer runny because I don't like eating snot (haha), and I think the addition of some cilantro was really important.

The Cooking Photographer said...

Katie I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Kathia will be really happy to hear this!

Thanks,
Laura

Sprinkles of Parsley said...

Wow, this dish looks absolutely delicious!! I'm always looking for good crockpot meals and am so happy I stumbled upon your website!

jadesmith said...

Once you are in Costa Rica you will relish on the best cuisines in the world. The Typical cuisine of Costa Rica is Tipico, a vegetable beef soup.Dishes like the verduras, tamales, sopa negra, gallo pinto are one of the favorites in Costa Rica.
This dish looks really great.

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