Kelli's Kitchen

Black Bean Soup

Three years ago we moved to San Diego and I immediately fell in love.  I loved the weather, the people, the lifestyle and the topography. It was good for the soul and I very quickly fell in line with the healthier lifestyle. We got outside more, visited and ate at the local farmers markets, and started eating fresher and healthier at home.  I realized through all this how unhealthy I had been living and after having three children very close together my body had suffered.  I wanted to lose my leftover baby weight.  I had always been very conscious of what my children ate but my husband and I ate whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.  I made a drastic change to our eating.  You should have seen my husbands head spin when I bought my first vegan cookbook.  He grew up on a dairy farm so you can understand why this purchase caused quite a stir.  I'm not vegan, obviously, but I wanted more vegetables and less fat so I was looking at all outlets.  I started to educate myself on where our foods came from and I highly recommend watching food.inc.  It really opened my eyes to the how big food corporations make money off trusting Americans.  My husband did and has accepted most things I have said and changed.  We meet in the middle.  We have joined a CSA, this is a way to get fresh fruits and vegetables from the local farmers by purchasing a share in their farm. We found ours at localharvest.org.  This is a nation wide thing.

Now to get back to my recipe. When I made this change I found that eating less amount while increasing my vegetables made me feel like a superwoman.  I have since lost 30lbs and have kept it off.  This recipe was one of my first when I made this change.  I fell in love with it, is easy to make, and really fills you up. Most of my friends have had this, especially in San Diego, as I make this for lunch all the time. Whenever someone was over, I would throw this together and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  I also would freeze it for later.



The Ingredients:
1 tablespoon  olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1 green or red pepper
1 small jalapeno (optional)
1 small tomato chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
2 15oz cans of black beans (drained not washed)
3 cups vegetable stock

Heat olive oil on medium heat in dutch oven or large sauce pan.  Drop in onions and peppers.  Allow them to get soft, about 5 minutes.  Next, add the garlic, tomato and seasonings. Let sizzle for 2 minutes and then pour in both cans of beans and the stock.  Cover and let sit simmer for 10 minutes.  Use an immersion blender or a regular blender to blend the soup until smooth. Serve.
It's just that easy!
I enjoy mine with a little sour cream and cheese.