Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

Disney is very generous with their recipes.  I can't think of any other business that employs so many top chefs and hands out recipe cards with such wild abandon.  (Notice that there are no Disney recipes in the Top Secret Recipes line of cookbooks.)  This is good news for home cooks because it means that we can recreate beloved favorites, restaurant quality meals, and try new mouth-watering dishes many miles away from Disney's theme parks and resorts.

This recipe, from Shutters at Old Port Royale at Disney's Caribbean Beach resort is one of the easiest to recreate at home.  It's one of my favorites of the hundreds of recipes that I have tried from the web pages with Disney recipes and the Disney cookbooks in the last year for several reasons.  First, it's relatively inexpensive.  (Most of the handful of recipes that we haven't tried yet use cuts of meat or seafood that are either hard to procure in our little college town, expensive, or both.)  Second, it's fairly easy to put together.  And finally, for a vegetarian dish that is very, very good for you, it is also very tasty.  This soup got seven enthusiastic thumbs up (well, okay... six and a half) and has made several repeat appearances.  It even got taken over to a cousin of ours, a student at the local college, who managed to develop pneumonia last summer.  It's just that good.


The ingredient list can be a bit intimidating, because it is so long, but most of that is spices and canned items that just need to be dumped into the pot along with the chopped vegetables.  You can make this less expensive by using dried beans (be sure to remember to soak them overnight before using) or go for the faster, easier option of using canned black beans.  The toppings are optional, but I have to admit that I really love a twist of lime juice and a dab of sour cream in mine.  We had sour cream left over from making taco salads late last week--and certainly you can just use a splash of lime juice from a bottle rather than getting a limes from the market.  For those of you with cilantro issues, just leave it out.  It's still terrific even without that extra addition. It is served in the restaurant with Johnny Cake (like cornmeal pancakes).  At our house, we've just put out a bowl of cornmeal muffins or biscuits.

If you like this recipe, it can also be found on several webpages dedicated to posting recipes given out at Disney restaurants as well as in Cooking with Mickey and the Disney Chefs .  I picked up my copy on one of our many trips to Disneyland, back when our family lived in California, but you can find copies of it at Amazon.com as well as many other online websites.  It's a good cookbook to have and worth the investment.  Because Disney theme parks and resorts are "themed", there are recipes in it from many time periods and countries from all over the world.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup -- Yield: 2 quarts or 6-8 servings. 

1/3 cup olive oil (or regular cooking oil works fine)

2 cups diced onions

1 cup diced green pepper

1 cup diced carrot

1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup diced celery

1 tablespoon cumin powder

dash of dried oregano

2 teaspoons paprika

3 dashes hot sauce

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs cilantro (optional, for those of you with cilantro issues)

1 tablespoons salt

dash of pepper

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

2 cans ( 15 ounces) black beans with liquid

2 cups water

Toppings:  sour cream, lime wedges or a splash of lime juice, cilantro sprigs

Heat oil in a large pot.  Add onions, peppers, carrots, garlic, and celery.  Saute until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, or until carrots have cooked through.   Serve with desired toppings.