Guinness & Black Bean Soup
from Jeni*

If you like beans with a little tang, this is a good, healthy & simple recipe!

Ingredients:

2 large cans black beans (28 oz)
1 11.2 ounce bottle of Guinness Stout
2 cups beef stock or vegetable stock, unsalted
4 strips good quality bacon, diced into ¼ inch squares
1 large onion, or 2 mediums, diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
½ cup fresh chopped parsley
3 thyme sprigs
Juice of half a lemon

Directions:

1) Drain and rinse the beans, set them aside.

2) Heat a large saucepan over med heat until hot (you can tell it is hot when you can't hold your hand over the pan for more than 3 seconds without pain), add bacon, cook until bacon crisp but not burned.

3) Turn heat down on stove add onions, garlic and thyme (and vegetables if using) you just want to sweat the onions and garlic, not sauté them. About 7 minutes.

4) Add your beans, Guinness, stock, parsley and lemon juice.

5) Cook at a low simmer for 30 minutes.

6) Depending on the saltiness of your bacon you may or may not want to add salt. Serve with freshly ground black pepper on top.

Enjoy!

Notes:
1) Feel free to add some carrots, celery and potatoes, just make sure you add a little more stock if doing so.

2) This would be excellent served over cooked short grain brown rice and it would also make it a complete protein meal.

3) You can make this without the bacon but obviously the flavor will not be the same. I tried adding some liquid smoke to a vegetarian version, but it made the taste too bitter. I have also added veggie bacon, and this helped the flavor tremendously, but in all honesty, real, organic (if possible) and nitrate free bacon is healthier and more satisfying.

* Jennifer Columbo is a chef of natural cuisine and owner of the private cooking party and catering business, Naturally Jeni.