Chris loves huevos rancheros. When we were dating, on those rare occasions (wink wink) when we shared breakfast, he would take me somewhere that served them and order huevos rancheros. I, on the other hand, could never understand spicy Mexican food for breakfast. In fact, I've never bitten into a breakfast burrito. However, I will have eggs, or any type of breakfast for dinner, which brings us to today's recipe - fried egg over black bean soup. He had a dentist appointment this afternoon, so Chris requested "soup and bread" for dinner tonight. Since I've had a hankering for Mexican lately (for dinner, that is), I decided on spicy black bean soup and let him pick up his choice of bread. I was going to garnish the soup with the usual - a bit of shredded cheddar, chopped cilantro, sour cream, or even better, creme fraiche - but suddenly it all seemed so boring. So been there, done that. And while I think the fried egg topper has also been ubiquitous as of late, I've never tried it over black bean soup. It turns out, this little recipe of mine was the perfect thing for the huevos rancheros loving, comfort food needing, end of the semester paper writing graduate student known as my husband.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground chipotle chili pepper
3 15-ounce cans black beans
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons dried cilantro leaves
Place 2 tablespoons olive oil, chopped onion and minced garlic in a soup pot. Turn the heat to medium, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until onions are softened, about seven minutes. Add the chili powder and ground chipotle and cook, stirring constantly, for one additional minute. Add the broth and the beans. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes to an hour. To thicken, blend briefly with an immersion blender. When ready to serve, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the eggs and fry to your liking (note: we did them over-easy so the yolk would mix nicely into the soup). Add the lime juice to the soup, stir well, and remove from the heat. Serve the soup in a bowl topped with the fried egg and sprinkled with a teaspoon of dried cilantro leaves.