My Go-To Easy Black Bean Soup

Do recipes ever make you giddy?  They do me.  Especially when they are cheap, easy and full of goodness.  This recipe for Easy Black Bean Soup makes me giddy.  I’ve made it every week for the last 3 weeks.  It is gooood!

With all the amazing recipes on the Internet, and especially with Pinterest, I rarely buy recipe books.  I recently made an exception.  I am a huge fan of Happy Herbivore.  She has a great blog and is in the middle of writing her 3rd cookbook.  I bought her second cookbook, called Everyday Happy Herbivore: Over 175 Quick-and-Easy Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes
It is AWESOME.

I have been working hard at eating a more plant based diet.  We have been replacing meat dishes with vegetable dishes a few times a week, which really helps boost our vegetable intake around here.  It has been a bit of a switch, and finding recipes that are easy and not intimidating was key.  That is exactly what I found in this cookbook.  I will be featuring many of her recipes on the blog, since I blog what I do and I’m using her book all the time!

Soups are huge in our home, especially at lunchtime for me and the hubs.  He eats homemade soup everyday, and I am trying to do the same, which keeps me from spending too much at my local health food co-op deli!  Todd watched me make this soup in minutes, and commented that even HE could make it, which made me smile because he DOES NOT cook. Yes, it is that easy.

This particular soup is great to have on hand.  I have used it thick in wraps.  I have used it as a tortilla chip dip.  I have added carrots, squash and corn to it.  It is very forgiving and versatile, and really, it is perfection made just as the recipe states.

Easy Black Bean Soup
{happy herbivore}

15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed (or not:))
1 cup salsa
11/2 cups vegetable broth (more or less, depending on desired thickness)
1/2 tsp cumin
dash of hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

tortilla chips (optional)

Place 1 cup beans, salsa, broth and cumin in a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add remaining ingredients except chips. Stir to combine and heat thoroughly over low. Once warmed, serve and garnish with broken chips.

Can add cooked carrots, as I did in the above picture.

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