Dabbling in the Kitchen: Black Bean Soup

I have a new food obsession: black beans. I like them in burgers. I like them as soup. I like them in tacos and burritos and quesadillas. I like them plain with some rice. I like black beans.

So tonight - black bean soup and salad with "Morrocan" dressing.

I found the recipe on RealSimple.com (which is where I find a TON of my recipes):
(Serves 4. Hands on time: 10 minutes)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 pint store-bought fresh salsa
1 16-ounce can refried black beans
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 14.5-ounce can vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 cups of the salsa and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes.
2. Add the refried beans, black beans and broth and brng to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Divide among bowls and top with the sour cream, cilantro, and remaining 1/2 cup salsa.

I opted for vegetable broth and no fresh cilantro. Chris has a slight allergy to it, so I tried to find a salsa that had very little cilantro in it.

In all it really only took about 15 minutes from start to finish to make and it was GOOD. Not as thick as I usually like it - but I think boiling for a little longer would've helped. Additionally, since there are only two of us - there's enough left over to freeze!

For the salad - it was really simple. Some hearts of romaine lettuce drizzled in a lime dressing. Here's that recipe:
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons lime juice
Red pepper flakes and salt to taste

While the lime juice can be overpowering, the citrus balanced nicely with the soup.

Overall it's a great recipe. Could use a tweaking to make it perfect - and I plan to play around with it in the future. Delicious. :)

Try it out - let me know what tweaks you make and what you think. Happy cooking!