This black bean soup might be one of my favorite recipes of all time.
When the husband ate it, he said: this might even be better than your vegetarian chili - which is a pretty big compliment!
It's perfect for winter: hearty, filling and a one-pot meal. I modified this CookingLight recipe to be more vegetarian friendly, by basically just eliminating the chorizo, using vegetable stock, and adding a bit more veggies & beans.
This is great for little ones too. To make it baby-friendly: I made this recipe and left out the chipotle chili powder, took out a portion for Layla - and then added in the chipotle chili powder for me and the husband. She ate the less spicy version and gobbled it all up with a tablespoon of Greek Yogurt. She loved it!
We topped ours with some diced avocado and cilantro, and later added a few crumbled up blue corn tortilla chips and a dollop of low fat plain Greek yogurt.
I recently made this recipe for a dinner party with some friends and it was a huge hit there too!
The Ingredients Modified from CookingLight- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 red or yellow bell peppers, diced
- 2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chile powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 (15-ounce) cans unsalted black beans, rinsed, drained, and coarsely mashed
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- Toppings: chopped fresh cilantro, diced avocado, 1 tbsp low fat plain Greek yogurt (per bowl), a few crumbled blue corn tortilla chips
Step 1: Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil to the pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in oregano and next 4 ingredients (through salt); cook 30 seconds.
Step 2: Stir in stock and beans. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 10-20 minutes on low heat. Mash the beans in the pot with a potato masher until the soup has a nice, chunky consistency.
When it's chunky and done cooking, it will look like this:
The mashed black beans mixed with the veggie broth give the soup a creamy and thick texture without any additional fat or calories! It's one of my favorite tricks to use when making healthy but satisfying soups. This recipe also freezes really well (minus the toppings) so you can always keep the leftovers and eat it another night. Enjoy!
