Super Eco

Photo credit: Marisa McClellan

Soup. It's easy to prepare, it's an energy-efficient one-pot meal and there are always leftovers. Plus, soups are easy to prepare with little or no meat. According to Mark Bittman, the New York Times Minimalist, eating more vegetarian meals is one way to lessen our impact on the environment. While he's not the only person to suggest this alteration in our cultural eating habits, he's one of the first to try and coin a new word to represent this shift. With his new book, Food Matters, he's trying to start a movement that he's calling lessmeatarian.

I saw Bittman speak last week and I was motivated to make a big pot of black bean soup in an attempt to have Sunday night dinner and lunches for the week that would be meat-free and energy efficient. I created a delicious and easy soup that has been wonderful eating all week long. Best of all, it is endlessly adjustable, so you can take the basic soup and alter it to fit your tastes. My recipe is after the jump.

2 cups dried black beans
12 cups of water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
1 cup brown rice
salt and pepper

The night before you make the soup, put the beans to soak in eight cups of water.

When you're ready to make the soup, get out a big kettle (one that holds at least five quarts), add the olive oil and saute the onion, celery and garlic until they soften (about eight minutes). Now add the beans and soaking liquid to the pot. Top it off with the remaining four cups of water (you could use vegetable stock instead, if you want). Add the bay leaf and chili flakes. Bring the pot to a gentle simmer, reduce the heat to very low and let the soup simmer for two hours.

When two hours has elapsed, stir the soup, add the rice and put the lid back on for another hour or so. Let it cook until the beans are soft and the rice is done. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

To spice the soup up for serving, stir in a squeeze of lemon juice. You can also top it with chopped raw onion, sour cream, avocado or a bit of cheese. Feel free to make the recipe yours by adding some red peppers during cooking, or a can of whole peeled tomatoes. It is also delicious if you make it with a hunk of bacon, but that defeats the purpose of the meat free meal.