Black Bean Soup

Leaves are changing colors, nights are starting sooner and that puts me in the mood for soup! This is another quick & easy healthy dinner disguised as comfort food. I originally found this recipe in the Trader Joe's cookbook (pssst--there's some awesome recipes in there that I let others think I'm a kitchen genius for, apricot brie anyone? it's worth flipping through the book or maybe even buying it! Just realized there's a bunch of TJ books, thank you Amazon!) Back on track here, here's a guide to Black Bean Soup. Just keep in mind that I don't follow directions and I cook with a 'little bit of this and a little bit of that' game plan, so if you want exact measurements you gotta buy the book! :)

You will need:

Juice of 1 lime 

Chunky salsa, about 8 oz (pico de gallo is best)

1 tablespoon (?) cumin--or maybe a tad more ;)

Chopped medium white onion (although purple or yellow works just fine too)

Crushed garlic to taste (which means a big heap for me)

3 cans black beans (undrained, or add a bit of water to soup later for low-sodium needs)

Drizzle some cooking oil (Grapeseed is my fave) and brown those onions up till they're translucent. Add garlic & cumin while you're browning the onion to really get those flavors immersed. When the onion looks nice and tender, turn down heat to low and add the lime juice and salsa. 

Then pour the 3 cans of black beans (undrained!) and stir them into the onion/salsa mixture. Let it simmer for at least 15 minutes or longer--this is a good make ahead meal too. This recipe will serve about 4 hungry men, so it gives us plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. I do have to share that the first time I made this, I cooked up chicken sausage on the side because my husband would have been mortified to be served a meal, let alone dinner, without meat. And I'm happy to say that he had no room in his stomach for the sausage! That's right, Cody ate (& enjoyed and even requests) this VEGETARIAN meal! 

Serve with warm tortillas and a dollop of Daisy your favorite sour cream. Anyone else singing the dollop of Daisy jingle right now? I have found that Fage Greek Yogurt is an awesome sour cream substitute for all occasions. Enjoy!