Southwest Black Bean Soup

One of the nice things about my blog, is if I get stumped for something to make, I have most of my recipes here! My daughter was home sick yesterday so I stayed home with her and wanted to make a soup to bring for my lunches for the rest of the week. I’ve made my taco soup recently, chicken tortilla soup I make all the time, I wasn’t in the mood for potato soup, so when I came across this recipe again, I had forgotten how much I liked it! I got the recipe from Eat Better America. If you ever get a chance to check out their site, they have a bunch of healthy recipes, with easy ingredients, as well as easy preparation too!

Ingredients:

1 TB. canola or olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 to 2 jalapenos chiles, seeded, finely chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) Muir Glen brand fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 TB. fresh cilantro
Reduced fat sour cream as a garnish on top (optional)

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and add onion, garlic and chiles. Cook it for about 3 minutes or so stirring, until tender.

Stir in the beans, tomatoes, the broth and cumin. Heat to boiling over high heat.

Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

You can either use a potato masher or a hand blender and mix to your desired consistency.

I like to puree it until its smooth, otherwise you can make it chunkier, or you can leave it like it is! Once you get the desired consistency, you can stir in the fresh cilantro and top with sour cream if you like!

Makes 6 servings: 240 calories, 3 fat, and 14 fiber

I usually serve it with a salad, and fresh bread to make it a full meal. Or you can make a quesadilla as a side. It’s so easy, anyone can make this!