Creamy Black Bean Soup

I’ve been doing my best to eat solely out of my pantry, refrigerator and freezer to keep the cost of food low. As creative as I am in the kitchen it helps to have a guide when you’ve got 1 pound of dry baby lima beans and just don’t know what to do with them. Recipezaar.com is my go to website for looking up recipes by the ingredients that I happen to have on hand. While looking for something to make with the dry beans I have in my pantry (black beans, lima beans, cannellini beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, black eyed peas and pinto beans) I ran across this amazing recipe for black bean soup. I love black bean soup so much that in my upcoming book Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food I have two recipes for it. But I’m always looking to try new taste and techniques. This recipe came highly rated so I thought I’d give it a try. I can’t express what an amazing recipe this is! It does take a while to cook but it is well worth the wait. One bowl is enough to make a full meal, and although the original recipe recommends cheese, green onions and sour cream as garnishes I liked it just the way it is straight from the pot to the bowl. I changed the recipe slightly based on what I had on hand in the kitchen. For the original recipe check out this link. Here’s my adapted version of this creamy black bean soup recipe.


Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil
¾ cup diced white onion
¾ cup diced carrot
1/3 cup diced bell pepper of any color
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups cooked black beans
4 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon hickory liquid smoke


Directions:
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium/low heat.

Add onion, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic to the oil and cook for 15 minutes or until the carrots are just becoming tender.

Keep the heat low enough that the veggies don't brown and be careful not to burn the garlic or it will be bitter.

Measure 3 cups of the beans into a food processor with 1 cup of vegetable stock. Puree on high speed until smooth.

When the veggies are ready, pour the pureed beans, the whole beans, the rest of the vegetable stock, and remaining ingredients to the pot.

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes or until soup has thickened and all the ingredients are tender.