I love to do soup recipes because it’s simply genius that you can throw a bunch of ingredients into a pot and have a scrumptious main dish. Also, soup making doesn’t take a whole lot of kitchen expertise… which is important to this gal who would rather do almost anything but cook.

I don’t typically buy canned beans. I usually buy a bag of dry organic beans, soak ’em, and cook ’em in my slow cooker for a whole day. Then the kids bag them into can-sized portions and put them into the freezer. Since you use several “cans” for this recipe, this is a good one to make at the end of a “black bean cookin'” day before they get bagged and frozen.

Very Veggie Black Bean Soup (serves 8-12), Vegan

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1.5 cups celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced or 1 t garlic powder
• 2 T chili powder (I put 1 because my kids prefer milder)
• 1 T ground cumin
• 4-6 cups Vegetable broth*
• 9 cups of black beans (6, 15oz, cans drained)
• 1 (14.5 oz) can of crushed tomatoes

I try not to use oil in my recipes… or added salt, so if you want to use this to saute in or for flavor enhancement, feel free. I saute my onion, celery, carrots, bell peppers, and garlic in a bit of vegetable broth (in my soup pot) until the onions are tender. While that’s going on, blend together (in a blender or food processor) 3 cups of black beans and the crushed tomatoes. Set aside the blended mixture.

Once your onions are deliciously lovely, add in the chili powder and cumin. Let that simmer for a minute. Next you’ll add 6 cups of black beans and the remaining vegetable broth (add in broth till all the solid ingredients are covered). Bring that to a boil. Dump your blended mixture into your pot, stir, and reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve it up and enjoy!

* I use Pacific organic veg broth because they don’t add oil to it. Check the labels of your veggie broth brand, you may not like what you see.

Now, as usual, I’m going to give you a dining out alternative to this soup. Get in your car and drive to Panera Bread. Their Low-Fat Vegetarian Black Bean soup will not disappoint! If you happen to go on a day when they aren’t serving the Black Bean soup, ask for Low-Fat Vegetarian Garden Vegetable with Pesto soup instead.