The real prep time for this is about 15 minutes. This is a very flexible recipe. The details here are really just approximations. The bean volume and water volumes worked out well for me so I want to keep track of them for future reference.

Directions

Soak the beans the night before so that they will soften up a little faster.

Bean prep

Sort the beans if you’re used to doing that. Otherwise yolo!

Combine dry beans and about 2 Quarts of water and let them soak overnight.

Aromatics

Before starting the aromatics, drain and rinse the beans.

Prepare 2 Quarts water for cooking the beans.

Combine the garlic, oregano, bay leaves and whatever else you think would smell good in a dutch oven with some oil. Move them around till they start smelling good.

Cook

When the aromatics are fragrant, add beans and water to the pot. Turn up the heat to bring the liquid to a boil. While waiting for the boil, add the salt pork.

(If you can’t find salt pork, use whatever protein you prefer or omit it if you’re going veggie. You will probably want to add some salt to taste. (1/2T or so of salt seems about right to me…)

Once everything has come to a boil, reduce to low simmer (#3.5 for my stove) and cover. Let this bubble on the stove top for 1 or more hours. Until the beans are tender.

Smash?

At this point you’ll have bean soup. You could stop here and serve. The pork might be a little chunky, but that’s up to personal preference.

I want a little thicker soup so I use a stick blender or a potato smasher to break up some or all of the beans and thicken up the soup a bit. The pork will usually break up as well.

Serve

Serve in a bowl, and if you’re feeling fancy, throw a few chopped green onions on top.

Ingredients

• 16 oz dry black beans
• 8 oz salt pork*
• Salt to taste
• 2 Quarts water
• 2-4 T olive oil
• 2-10 cloves garlic
• 1-2 T oregano
• 2-4 Bay Leaves
• 2-4 Green Onions (fancy option)
• other stuff.