I love love love black beans. Next to spinach, they might be my most regular go-to ingredient for daily yum. Black beans taste fab in chili and burritos, refried in quesadillas (sans cheese – all you need is refried black beans, salsa, & tortillas), on salads and topped on baked sweet potatoes. And in soups.
Last week I had an I-don’t-want-to-cook evening. We all have those, right?, even those who thrive on cooking. But the troops were hungry, so I rallied. I poked through my stash of recipes and was delighted to find my recipe for Spicy Black Bean Soup. I hadn’t made it in a while, it requires only six ingredients, and takes less than 20 minutes. Win all around.
I made it again today because, why not? It’s a soup and almost a bean dip since I serve it with tortilla chips. Tonight I paired it with veggie burgers (we get them at Costco), mine on a salad of arugula fresh from a friend’s garden with a hummus/mustard/lemon juice vinaigrette (lemon also from friend’s garden). Not pictured are the roasted sweet potato wedges with jalapeno aioli. Yum x 3!
Spicy Black Bean Soup
Serves 4-6 as side dish or 3-4 as main dish
1 c red or yellow onion, diced (about half a large onion)
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp spicy green salsa (or 2 Tbsp diced mild green chilies)
2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed & drained
2 c veggie broth
Chopped fresh cilantro or green onions, as garnish
Tortilla chips to serve
In large soup pot over medium-high heat, saute onion for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; saute for 2 minutes. Add salsa or chilies and saute 1 more minute. [If you can’t be bothered, add onion, cumin, garlic and salsa all at once and saute until onion is tender, about 5 minutes]. Add beans and broth. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until flavors blend, about 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, pulse to thicken soup; don’t fully puree – or you can if you prefer, of course, but I like some texture to my food. You can also remove some of the soup and pulse in a blender or food processor. Ladle soup into bowls, garnish as desired, and serve with chips.
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