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Brazil’s cuisine often features smoky, grilled meats, but this vegetarian bean soup recipe is entirely meat-free. Instead, blackened jalapeños, fire-roasted tomatoes, and smoked paprika provide the Brazilian flair. A little molasses adds a sweet-toasty note, and the kale, while not traditional, bumps up your daily veggie count.
Prep/Cook Time: 1½ Hours, Servings: 8
Ingredients
2 jalapeño peppers
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups chopped onion
1½ cups diced carrot
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
4 15-ounce cans low-sodium black beans, rinsed
1 28-ounce can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons lime zest
5 tablespoons lime juice
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground pepper
4 cups chopped kale
Chopped scallions & chopped fresh tomato for garnish
Directions
Heat a medium skillet over high heat. Split jalapeños in half lengthwise, remove ribs and seeds, and place skin-side down in the pan. Cover the pan with foil and cook until the skins are blackened 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool, then dice.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrot and cook, stirring often, until starting to brown 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring often, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes more. Add garlic and the diced jalapeños and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more.
Stir in broth, scraping up any browned bits. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add beans, tomatoes, molasses, lime zest, juice, cumin, paprika, cayenne, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Cover and return to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Remove bay leaves. Puree 4 cups of the soup in a blender (use caution when pureeing hot liquids), then stir it back into the pot. Stir in kale, cover, and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes. Serve garnished with scallions and tomatoes, if desired.
