permission to dine: a soup recipe that just might keep your kids off the streets
Thursday, March 11 
Many years ago I became aware of a certain statistic, and a cook was born. You’ve probably come across this study published in one of its many forms, and while I can’t replicate it exactly, it goes something like this: Don’t want your kid to grow up and sniff glue? Then eat dinner together as a family most every night. Don’t want to be a grandma when junior’s a teen? Family dinners. Don’t want them to become one of those douchebags downtown who ride around on skateboards looking for someone to get stoned and play World of Warcraft with? Family dinners.
So most nights I get home from work at 5:30 and scratch up some homemade vittles, even if it means the last dish isn’t washed and I’m not able to relax until after 7:30. It’s worth it, and I really love that despite our busy schedules, we gather together once a day and eat good food. (“Tonight’s meal boys is elk roast -- made by Shawn -- served with get-good-grades-gravy, mom’s special abstinence applesauce, don’t-do-drugs dinner salad and…” Okay. Perhaps not.)
On weekends I love to make big pots of soup, enough so that I can bring some to work for lunches during the week. Sometimes though, I need something that fits weeknight cooking criteria: yummy, nutritious and comes together fairly quickly. That’s this recipe. And if beans make you toot, I find that rinsing them takes care of most of that.
One other thing worth noting: make sure to adjust the chipotle chile in this recipe to your family’s spicy heat tolerance. I once added half again as much as the recipe calls for, thinking that one teaspoon sounded like a sissy amount, and Shawn couldn’t eat it.
We can be a fairly sarcastic bunch, and sometimes those sly comments cross a line. The boys and I can do spicy hot, and unfortunately for Shawn, take a bit of pride in that fact. (Shawn likes spicy hot too, but it doesn’t like him.) Anyway, one night — it might’ve been the night I served this soup with too much chipotle — he’d taken enough heat. He put down his spoon and said, “I'm tired of it. You guys act like it’s a moral failing that I can’t eat hot food.”
Because we know when we’ve gone too far, the boys and I kept quiet while we ate our soup. I might’ve blinked a secret spicy ninja warrior message to Oldest Son: Well. I would never have said that. But he might be on to something there.
Gotta love those family dinners. I do. Really.
Black Bean Soup
With chile, coconut milk, and lime
* Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa cookbook (with thanks to FaveAuntie for introducing me to Ina Garten's genious in the kitchen).
This soup, quickly made with canned beans, is thick enough that it can precede a meal. Or add freshly cooked rice to each bowl and let it become the meal.
2 tablespoons sunflower seed or olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile or minced chipotle in adobo, to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, plus a little extra for garnish
Two 15 1/2 ounce cans black beans, preferably organic
1 15 ounce can coconut milk
Sea salt
Juice of 1 or 2 limes, to taste
1. Heat the oil in a wide soup pot, then add the onion, cumin, chile, and cilantro and cook over medium heat, stirring every so often, for about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, lower the heat, and continue cooking until the onion is soft, about 12 minutes in all.
2. Pour in the beans plus their liquid, 2 1/2 cups water, and the coconut milk. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Puree a cup or so of the beans and return it to the soup. Or puree all of the beans if you prefer a smooth soup. Season with salt and stir in the lime juice. Serve garnished with a pinch of chopped cilantro. (A bit of queso fresco or other cheese is nice, too.)
Reader Comments (10)
I too have a low heat tolerance my theory is that our stomachs were damaged as children in Nigeria. I think youngest sister can eat hot stuff but not Shawn and I . It was actually very interesting for me to discover this fact today. Family dinners are a good idea and kudos to you for making sure it gets done.
YUM!!!!!
You need to try my Harvest Soup Recipe. It makes a TON and is super yummy.
This does look yummy. Although I'd have to go light on the spicy. I love black bean soup. Unfortunately, BroJohn doesn't all that much. Bummer.
And thanks for the shout-out. I love the Contessa. Glad you like her too.
I love when parenting rules are simple: eat together and the kids will turn out perfect.
I was looking for something for tonight and I think this will fit the bill nicely.
I have a correction for you: NO ONE gets stoned and plays World of Warcraft--much too complicated a game for that. They might play Tony Hawk though...
This looks delicious and I'm going to make it even if Mike won't like it. =)
SDA: A- Ha! You mean your time in Nigeria didn't make your guts bullet proof? :)
Heidi: If it isn't too much trouble, can you tell me where to find that recipe on your site?
FaveAuntie: Truthfully, I love this soup so much that sometimes I make it on weekends when the kids are with their dad and eat it all by myself, yo!
Melynda: Well, when the kids are little you can't really physically get away from them, but when they're older, that all changes (Now I grovel for hugs)...I like that the dinner table is a place to put our phones and computers and busy-ness aside for a spell.
Susan: Actually, I originally wrote "Runescape," but Oldest Son was reading over my shoulder and said, "Mom, no one plays Runescape. Change that to World of Warcraft." I didn't ask him how he came by this knowledge...Family dinners, anyone?
That looks SO good. Think I'm gonna try it on half hot. We DO like spicy, but my kids are still pretty little. Half hot should be good. And I am definitely throwing in some abstinence applesauce. With every meal, actually. Good stuff!!!
Harvest Soup:
http://heidisacredandprofane.blogspot.com/2008/12/recipes.html
I don't know about the spicy food-Nigeria connection but my older sibs had to eat at the boarding school dining hall and I had mom's cookin'. I can do spicy but I am allergic to eggplant now, can't even touch them, and mom informs me we ate tons of it in Nigeria. (OD'ed?)
I love your cooking Megan and if I were your kids I would never do drugs or....that other thing.
BTW our favorite little local mom and pop restaurant "ZONA ROSA" does small cooking classes, we could get a couple of friends together and book one. I think it would cost like 25 bucks a person. Salsa, pastry and Asian are a few of the options.
Kim: I hope you try it :)
Heidi: Thanks! Looks super yummy and I love recipes that make large amounts. Helps me control the crazy around here if we have leftovers to heat up.
Pooknelle: Love the cooking class idea. Please count me in if you set one up! We love Zona Rosa...