spicy black bean soup

ingredients:

4 15oz cans of low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained

4 cups or 32oz of vegetable broth

1 medium onion, chopped

2 jalapeños, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp of cumin

1 tbsp of red pepper flakes

2 bay leaves

juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper

Cilantro, optional

supplies:

olive oil

Stock pot or dutch oven

immersion blender or regular blender

directions:

turn your stove to medium heat, and cook the onions and jalapeños in olive oil for about 4 minutes, until they begin to sweat down. then, add garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. stir and cook an additional minute or so, until fragrant. next, add in the black beans, bay leaves, and vegetable broth. stir and bring to a simmer. let everything simmer together on low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the beans get slightly mushy and some of the broth cooks out. then, take the bay leaves out and discard. if you’re pureeing your soup with a regular blender, carefully scoop about half of it out, blend for about 20-30 seconds, then add back to the rest of the soup and stir. if you’re using an immersion blender, blend the soup for about 5-15 secs on low speed. turn the soup back up to medium heat and let the soup continue to simmer until the soup thickens to your desired texture (keep in mind, as the soup cools, it will thicken as well). Add in the lime juice, stir, and taste for additional salt, pepper, and/or additional seasoning. to serve, top with cilantro and additional chopped jalapeños, if desired. enjoy!

*note: this soup will yield about 6-8 servings, and can easily be halved, or doubled. you can also top the soup with tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream, etc.