Recipe - Hearty Black Bean Soup

2 tablespoon Oil
3 md Onions; chopped
4 Cl Garlic; minced
48 ounce Canned black beans (frijoles
negros) drained & chopped
1 tablespoon Fresh oregano; fine chopped
One half teaspoon Ground cumin; or to taste
One half teaspoon Fresh thyme; finely chopped
1 Bay leaf
2 cup Cubed ham; cooked
2 cup Chicken stock
One fourth cup Dry sherry
16 ounce Canned whole tomatoes;
drained & chopped
One fourth cup Fresh tomatoes; peeled and
chopped
Salt & freshly ground pepper
to taste
Accompaniments:
Fresh lime or lemon wedges
Sour cream
Radishes; thinly cut or sliced up
Green onions; cut or sliced up
Cilantro leaves
Chile salsa

Recipe by: the California Culinary Academy Preparation Time: 0:45 In a
widebottomed, large saucepan over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and
cook until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Stir
in beans, oregano, cumin, thyme, bay leaf, ham, stock, sherry, and
tomatoes.

Increase heat and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer,
uncovered, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt, if necessary, and
pepper. Serve soup with your choice of accompaniments, or cool to room
temperature and refrigerate or freeze.

Makes about 7 cups.

* Timesaver Tip: Soup can be made up to 2 days ahead, covered, and
refrigerated, or it can be frozen. To freeze, spoon soup into one large or
several smaller individual freezer containers. Cover, label, and freeze at
0 degrees F up to 1 month. To serve, defrost soup 15 to 20 minutes on
Defrost setting of microwave, or thaw in refrigerator 8 to 24 hours. Gently
warm soup in a saucepan or microwave at 50% power until it is warmed
through. Stir several times both during defrosting and during reheating.

Microwave Version

Put oil in a 2quart casserole and microwave on 70% power 45 seconds. Add
onions and microwave another 3 minutes, until onions are soft. Add garlic
and microwave a minute longer. Complete step 2 as directed above. Cover
casserole with waxed paper or loosely with plastic wrap and microwave,
still on 70% power, 30 minutes. Season to taste and proceed with step 4 as
directed above. Preparation time and timesaver tip same as above.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini