What’s in the Crock? Magic Black Bean Soup

What makes this soup magical? It can make just about any vegetable just disappear. I love it, partly because it’s tasty, but especially because it calls for ‘vegetables’. Pretty much any vegetable will do. We make it to

• clean out the crisper
• use up broccoli & mushroom stems
• give a home to all that extra zucchini that I thought I would use for 16 different baking projects that I just didn’t get to.

In fact, at any given time we have a couple of soups’ worth of veggies in a ziploc in the freezer, either from fridge clean-outs or the off-cuts of other recipes.

The original recipe is from Stephanie O’Dea’s Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, and is also available on her blog.  But that version called for packets of taco sauce, and I try to avoid the restaurant that sells those . So here is a version with some pantry-spicing and a couple of other tweaks:

Black Bean Soup

• 3 cans of black beans (undrained)
• 1 14oz can of stewed tomatoes (I’ve only ever seen 28oz cans here in Canada – so half a can)
• 2 cups of broth (vegetable or chicken)
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp coriander
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups chopped vegetables
• 1 chopped apple

1. Chop & dump everything in the crock.
2. Cook for 8-10 hours on low.
3. Soupify with an immersion blender.
4. Serve with some shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream.

Tags: black beans, recipe, slow cooker, soup