With all the rich foods of the holidays – ham, cookies, rum cake…oh the rum cake! – we needed to lighten things up tonight.  So I thought I’d try making a black bean soup.

I found this Black Bean and Vegetable Soup recipe on All Recipes (it had great reviews), and tweaked it a bit. I cut down on the veggie broth (reviews said it was way too much), added an extra can of beans (pinto as it was all I had on hand), used roasted diced tomatoes with garlic and I didn’t have chili powder so I used red pepper.  And if it matters, one can of black beans was a Trader Joe’s cuban black beans (already seasoned so I didn’t rinse them much).

Even cutting down the broth it was still a little too runny.  I’m thinking that next time I’d add some rice to thicken it up.  And yes, it was a little too spicy for me, but it was so yummy.  And let’s face it, with enough sour cream, nothing is too spicy!

And no photos as I’m not a food blogger here 😉

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 teaspoon red pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• a sprinkling of pepper flakes

Directions

1. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic, and carrots, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until onion is softened. Add chili powder and cumin; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add stock, the beans, corn, and pepper; bring to boil.
2. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30  minutes or until carrots are tender.
3. Puree with an immersion blender or save one can of beans to blend/puree with the tomatoes
4. Serve over rice, with sour cream & a sprinkling of jack cheese