Black Bean Soup (vegan!)

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 cans black beans, undrained
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP cumin
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1 can (14-16 oz) vegetable broth*
• 1 medium jar salsa of choice
• 3 TBSP lime juice

Directions:

In a large pot, heat oil and saute onion, garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes.  In food processor/blender mix: 1 can of beans and half the broth.  Add onion and garlic mixture and blend until smooth.  Pour back in pot.  In food processor/blender add remaining 2 cans of beans and broth, blend until smooth.  Return to pot** and stir all soup.

Add salsa and lime juice.

Serve warm.

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*I use 2 cups (16 oz) when I make this soup.

**At this point you could put everything in a crock pot if that works better for you.  I made a double batch for our dinner group the other day and the entire double batch fit in our (large) crock pot.  It was great for keeping it warm without having to put it back on the stove.  (Actually, I made the double batch the night before, put it the fridge, and then put it in the crock pot to heat it back up.  2 hours on high and it was ready to go!)

The first time I made this soup I used medium hot salsa and it turned out kind of spicy.  I really liked it that way, but Bryan didn't.  When I made it for a church activity recently I made it with mild salsa.   Bryan said he was really glad there were leftovers, so it looks like I may need to keep making it spicy if I want to keep it to myself.  :)  

Also, this soup freezes really well!  Last time I made it I had some that day and then put the rest in serving size tupperware containers (ours are actually glass).  I put all of the containers in the fridge first to cool them down and then I kept a few in the fridge to have for lunches and put the rest in the freezer.  Usually when I want to have one for lunch, I pull it out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge.  By the next day most of it is thawed, so I just pop it in the microwave until it's all nice and toasty!  My favorite way to eat this soup is with these yummy multigrain chips.  Mmm.  So good.

Enjoy!

Note: Thanks so much to my friend Jess who shared this wonderful recipe with me!