Black Bean Soup

This Cuban Black Bean Soup is absolutely delicious and naturally vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free! This soup is a family favorite!

• Peel and chop the onion. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Peel and coarsely chop the carrot. Coarsely chop the celery.
• Rinse springs of parsley with cool water, and pat dry with a paper towel. Chop enough parsley leaves into small pieces on a cutting board using a chef’s knife to measure about 2 tablespoons, or place the leafy portion of the parsley in a small bowl or cup and snip into very small pieces with kitchen scissors. Discard the stems.
• Cut bacon slice crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Cook the bacon in the saucepan over medium heat 1 minute, stirring constantly. Do not drain.
• Add the onion and garlic to the bacon. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is tender when pierced with a fork and beginning to turn yellow. Bacon will still be soft. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
• Stir in the chicken broth, carrot, celery, parsley, oregano and red pepper. Heat to boiling over high heat. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat just enough so mixture bubbles gently. Cover and cook 10 minutes.
• While broth mixture is cooking, drain the black beans in a strainer, and rinse with cool water. Measure out 1/2 cup of the beans. Place the 1/2 cup beans in a small bowl. and mash them with a fork.
• Stir the whole beans and the mashed beans into the broth mixture. Cook about 1 minute or until beans are heated. Serve soup with lemon wedges.

Before adding the chicken broth, remove the saucepan containing the hot bacon fat and onion from the heat to prevent spattering and steam.