Black Bean Soup

A key step to making Black Bean Soup is mixing it. Once everything is cooked, you need to blend the ingredients to get the creamy smooth texture we have come to expect from this soup. You can use a blender, but do be careful, as the soup will be very hot and you will have to blend it and then pour it back in the pan. To confess, I’ve never tried this before because a. the prospect kind of freaks me out a little, and b. I have an immersion blender. I did try to use a simple potato masher once, but this did not work. In theory, it should be fine, but I think it might take approximately 1,000,000,000 mashes, and I’m not certain even that would be enough. Your first step in making Black Bean Soup should probably be planning ahead for this crucial blending function.

You’ll also want

Feel free to dress this up with the toppings of your choice; sour cream, chopped cilantro, chips, avocado, cheese…you get the idea.

First, start with your chopped vegetables plus salt; sauté these in oil for about 10 to 15 minutes until they are starting to soften. Next, add the garlic and all of the spices; mix and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the broth and black beans and heat the mixture until it comes to a boil.

Cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer the mixture for at least 30 minutes.

After simmering for 30 minutes, turn off the heat. With an immersion blender (or whatever you choose to use), blend the mixture in the pan until the desired consistency is reached. (Let’s be honest, it is not the most appealing sight.)

Once the soup

As mentioned above, feel free to serve with lime wedges and other toppings as desired.

Need more Cinco de Mayo ideas? Try Brown Rice and Bean Bake, Salsa Chicken or a Vegetarian Crunch Wrap. And don't forget the salsa and guacamole!