Quick Black Bean Soup with Spicy Cilantro Paste

Every week, Caroline Wright creates simple, civilized recipes for Food52 that feed four -- for under $20, in under 20 minutes.

Today: Black beans are making a comeback.

I haven’t cooked with black beans for a while, a realization I had as I plucked the cans from my pantry shelf. This recipe was of the intent of bringing the beans back to my table, and this soup was the perfect flavorful candidate to sing their merits. I wanted it to be as simple as possible -- so, the ingredients are tossed in the pan and simmered from the start. To brighten the flavor, I made a quick herb paste in the blender to serve on top of the soup.

Quick Black Bean Soup with Spicy Cilantro Paste

1/4 cup olive oil?
1 small onion, finely chopped?
1 poblano, finely chopped?
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
?3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper?
1 bunch cilantro
?1 jalapeno, optional
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
?Cooked rice, for serving, optional 

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

As a freelance food writer and cook, I first wrote this style of recipe as a column on my blog, The Wright Recipes, as an excuse to cook good food for my friends in a quick and simple way. 

Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute™ Meals grew into a cookbook that was published by Workman in May 2013. The recipes found here are original, made especially for Food52 to once again celebrate simple food with friends.

Photo by Caroline Wright