2 cups/450 grams/1 lb. dry black beans
1/2 teaspoon plus 2 teaspoons salt
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dry Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon dry thyme
2 bay leaves
1-2 tablespoons sauce from canned chipotle chile en adobo
Cilantro for garnish

Salt and Pepper

1. For a quick soak of dry beans, cover beans with water in sauce pan, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and boil for one minutes. Cover and let sit for 1 hour.
   
   
2. Drain, cover with fresh water, add onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, and 2 teaspoons salt, and cook until tender, checking to maintain water level.
   
   
3. When beans are tender, puree with immersion blender or standard blender until roughly smooth, not pureed. Add more water if needed to thin to soup consistency.
   
   
4. Serve garnished with chopped cilantro and crema, Mexican sour cream.

Notes:
~ If cooking dry beans seems daunting, use 4 15-oz. cans of cooked beans.

~ After years of cooking beans in an olla de barro, a clay bean pot, I switched to a pressure cooker. Using a clay pot is muy mexicana, but takes so much longer. The bean pots are now used to hold kitchen utensils.

~ Chipotle chiles are large, dried smoked jalapeņos. They are commonly canned in adobo, a sauce of onion, vinegar and tomato.