January is national soup month. Currently my congregation is observing a fast. Being on a fast without taking the time to plan your meals, is a good way to fall off the wagon and consume foods and drinks that will you will later regret. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that’s good for your soul ( mind will and emotions) and your body. It gives your digestive organs an opportunity to rest, recover, and heal from all that hard work it does when we consume meat and highly processed foods (Check out the link below with stories of done on fasting). One of my favorite meals on a cold day like today is a slow cooked soup. I purchased a crockpot at a thrift shop years ago and it continues to produce all kinds of great meals. The thing I love about slow cookers a.k.a. crockpots, is you put the Ingredients in raw that you want to experiment with, set it on low, and go about your business. Before you know it your house starts smelling great and the food ready. Notice the date of the recipe below. As a food historian I love sharing stark recipes with my audience. Experiment with the recipe below adding for example a sofrito (sautéed vegetables cook on low with vegetable oil until lightly brown) color carrots, onions, garlic, zucchini etc.
Black Bean Soup Recipe
Ingredients
1 ½ pound black beans
3 ½ quarts water
1 large onion minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
1 bay leaf
Instructions
Select beans and wash with cold water. Boil in water in glazed pottery pot for an hour. Then remove this water and put in another three quarts of boiling water. Season with salt, onion, [olive oil and bay leaf]. Cook in covered pot on slow fire until very tender. Stir occasionally so that they will not stick to bottom of pot. The boiling ought to be slow and constant to avoid their becoming tough. Add a little boiling water as needed. The beans ought to be well cooked, whole, and with a little soup. Saute minced onion add to beans an hour before serving; keep hot on a moderate fire.
(Crosby Gaige, New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen, 1939)
