7 new things + black bean soup

As some of you have noticed there have been some big changes here at The Red Spoon, and we are excited to share them with you:

• We changed our logo! Yes, yes, we know your logo is not something that should be changed and picked apart into something completely different — after all this little site is only growing in popularity and should remain, for the most part unchanged. But as you know, I am a impossibly picky and well, nothing satisfies my unstoppable need to change things until they are right (read: they will never be right). So we have created a new logo.
• We added new graphics! With the new logo change, the old pictures felt big and stuffy. We changed them to fun, colorful little graphics (you can see them on the sidebar and tops of the recipe index and conversion pages, and throughout the produce stand, how to and tip pages) giving us more white space, meaning we have finally broken free of the stuffy chamber we were suffocating you in! What do you think? Too artsy? Too cliparty?
• We created a FAQ page! Within a year of this little food blog’s creation we have received many questions we are only now starting to answer for all to see. It is growing quickly so please check the FAQs (located under Resources on the left sidebar) if you have any questions.

• You can email a post! You can print a post! You can bookmark and share a post! Look at how fun we are! This is several months old, but all part of our major renovation project. Under each post after the recipe, but before the comments you will see a little section that says “Do More”. We have included a link where you can print the recipe portion of a post, email the recipe to a friend, family member or someone you hopes gets the hint, and lastly you can share the recipe on such social network sites like facebook, twitter, stumble upon, or digg. They are all there, hundreds of them, waiting for you to pass on to others.
• We set up a Flickr pool for all to upload their Red Spoon creations! Yes, months after dragging our feet, we finally took up our dear friend’s suggestion and created a place where all who have tested, tried or adapted a recipe from The Red Spoon can share with others what they created. We shall be waiting with anticipation to see all the yummy things coming from your kitchens!

And now for the promised black bean soup. I figured after publicly flogging my mother’s cooking I should make up for it with a soup I requested frequently through childhood, because I know it was made with love and redeemed her for the one single time I can ever remember being force fed tofu err, because my mom is such a good cook. It is also the first soup I was ever able to get my soup nazi husband to eat since it can easily be scooped up with pita bread or Tostito chips, making it more of a thick mexican dip — thankfully I have changed his opinion of soups with ones like these, but for now: the soup that raised me, that changed a stubborn man’s mind and will redeem you from any of your cooking mishaps.

Update 2/26/11 — Looks like I am impossibly picky as we have had a complete make over! Come over here to tour the new and improved red spoon!

Black Bean Soup with Rice
Adapted from The International Vegetarian Cookbook

1 lb. dried black beans
6 cups water
4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups rice
4-5 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
Sour cream, optional

Rinse beans and sort through discarding any foreign material. Drain well. Place beans in water in a 4 – 5 quart kettle and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until beans swell and absorb most of the water, 30 to 45 minutes. Add stock and continue simmering, covered, until beans are tender, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring until onion is soft. Set aside.

While onions are cooking, in a heavy 2 quart sauce pan bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter and 3/4 cup dried white rice. Cover, lower heat and simmer until rice is tender and has absorbed the water, about 15 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, whirl about 2 cups of the beans and a little broth until smooth; return puree to kettle. Stir in salt, onion mixture, rice and vinegar. Cook over medium heat until soup is steaming. Serve with sour cream.