Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Recipe to Share

My first real post here. Though I enjoy reading many blogs, I don't really have time to blog. But I'm one of those people who sometimes just like to share something. I was blogging over at Homeschoolblogger.com (eons ago), but I guess I'm just going for a fresh start here.

I wanted to share a recipe I found over at the Women Living Well blog that is so healthy and amazingly delicious I had to pass it along. While I've never given much thought to Black Bean Soup this one seemed simple enough and worth a try. With the exception of our five-year-old who didn't seem to want to eat anything the night we had it, everyone in the family enjoyed it. Hubby and I LOVED it! This will definitely be one that makes our rotating menu. More on that later when I actually have it underway.

Here's the recipe:

Best Ever Black Bean Soup

2 cans seasoned black bean, drained but not rinsed
1 can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp. olive oil (I used coconut oil)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3-4)
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
Rice (Minute Rice, follow recipe on box for 4 people -- I used brown.
Cilantro for garnish (quite a worthy addition as we are huge cilantro lovers)

In a large pot saute onions and garlic in oil until soft. Add chili powder and cumin and stir. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for 15 min. Take an immersion blender into the pot so that some of the beans are blended and some remain in tact. (If you don't have an immersion/stick blender, you can ladle some of the soup into a regular blender. Just be careful.) Place however much rice you want into a bowl and pour in soup, garnish with cilantro. My kiddos put sour cream in theirs.

Note* If you have soup left over, do not throw the rice in with it to store it. The rice will absorb the water and it won't be quite the same.

Now, we doubled this recipe and it made about 8 servings. Also, I wasn't sure what to serve with it. My daughter made cheddar biscuits and while delicious, I think sourdough rolls would have been nice, too. Next time we might get creative and make the sourdough bowls to serve it in. A side salad would be yummy too!

Enjoy!

Jennifer : )