Cuban Black Beans & Black Bean Soup

I love when the leftovers of one meal naturally lend themselves to become part of the next nights meal. This Cuban Black Bean recipe into Black Bean Soup is a great example of this.

Cuban Black Beans
Combine the following:
1 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

Cook 2 minutes over medium heat and then add in:
2 tsp chili powder

Cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Add in:
4 cups cooked black beans
a pinch of sugar
1 bay leaf
3-4 cups water, enough to cover beans

Simmer over low heat uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf and add:
2 tsp cider vinegar
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce

Use a slotted spoon to serve this over rice with salsa.

This recipe inevitably leaves you with a lot of leftover broth, as well as some beans, a bit of rice and a bit of salsa.

Black Bean Soup
In a medium sized pot I combined all the leftovers from the above meal (broth, beans, rice, salsa and any veggies I have served with it)

Add:
chopped carrots
cilantro
container of tomato paste
1-2 tsp of powdered vegetable broth

I heated this until the carrots were tender and viola, super simple black bean soup.