I am just so happy with my kitchen appliances! Especially because they make life easy and preparing healthy meals for the family less of a fuss when time challenged. I can add my ingredients to my slow cooker in the morning or use my pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process like I did with this Black Bean Chili Soup. It cooked in about 30 minutes yet it is made with dried black beans, not from a can. This recipe can of course also be made on a regular pan it just will take much longer.
This is my Pressure Cooker and she even talks … I remember my mom having an iron pressure cooker when I was young, one that you had to listen to and hear when there was too much pressure lol. She used to relieve some of it by lifting the node on the top with a knife. That thing almost exploded a few times! This is a whole different ball game! It has besides cooking under pressure a lot of different options to choose from like steam, stew, fry, bake and slow cook. Beans like the ones I used, or kidney beans or chickpeas can take up to two hours to soften. Cooking beans from scratch can be very economical plus there is a huge variety of legumes which are not available in the canned option. Besides that it is freshly cooked, it has not been sitting on a shelf for years sometimes and you can add as little salt as you prefer.
The pressure cooker I used is not available in many countries, if I would get another one it would be this one for sure!
I always soak my beans between 12 to 24 hours, this makes them cook to a creamier result and easier on the digestion. In the video below I added the salt at the beginning although adding it when the beans are al dente or half way through is better. Since then I discovered that my pan also has an “add in halfway” option which I will be testing next time. This also makes them less tough and creamier on the inside.
Research shows that adding beans and lentils to our daily diet can make a huge positive impact on our health. It seems to be one of the similarities that researchers have found between populations with the longest life spam like in Japan, Sweden, Greece and Australia. Lots of people tend to avoid them cause of there gas forming effect in the intestines. This side effect will subside in a few days or weeks once the bacteria in our guts have adjusted to digesting these pulses. Just start with daily small amounts.
Besides the beans I have put in a LOT of veggies like zucchini, bell pepper, tomato, celery, onion, garlic, string beans and pumpkin.
This is the result after 30 minutes on “Soup”. After the cooking time the pan automatically let’s the steam escape, this takes about 10 minutes, during this time the food still continues cooking. For meals or food that don’t need extra cooking time like vegetables there is a release steam option that you can use to stop the softening process.
So delicious and easy, great as a leftover the next day. For more pressure cooker recipes check out my Lentil Ratatouille and Pulled Salsa Jackfruit Wrap.
Click to see how I make it on the picture below!
Thank you for reading! You can find the complete recipe below. If you like this recipe you can print it or pin the picture below to your Pinterest board,
Tina xo
Black Bean Chili Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup black beans soaked for 12 to 24 hours, rinsed well
- 1 medium onion chopped fine
- 2 cloves of garlic sliced
- 1/2 big red bell pepper chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 2 cups chopped string / green beans about a pound
- 1 medium zucchini cubed
- 2 tsp. smoked paprika powder
- 2 tsp. mixed taco spices
- 2 tsp. cumin powder
- 1 tsp. pink salt to taste optional
- black pepper to taste
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp. chili sauce or some chili powder to taste
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp. onion powder
- 2 Tbsp. date paste or maple syrup
- 3 to 4 cups of water as much as you need to just cover all the ingredients in the pan
Instructions
- Saute the chopped onion and garlic in some water until soft. My pressure cooker has a “deep-fry” option which I use to bake the onions like in a skillet.
- Add beans and veggies, stir in spices, tomato, tomato paste and water. Stir until well combined. The water should cover all the ingredients by 1/2 inch.
- I cooked it 30 minutes on "soup" and let it cool the natural way.
- When making it on the stove top you should cook the beans, spices and tomato first without adding the vegetables until the beans are almost done, about an hour but it depends on the beans and soaking time. Then add in the
