Creamy Black Bean Soup

I feel like I’ve had a Mexican food theme going this week for some reason. This soup was easy, but it’s a little too spicy for me. Toby loved it and had 2 big bowls full! He said that it’s a keeper, so when I make it again, I will leave out 1 of the cans of green chiles, and see if that cools it down a little. We were going to have a salad with this, but Toby’s train was late tonight (by over an hour!), and he’s the salad-maker in the house, so I figured he would be starving when he got home, so we just had some warm rolls with it instead. Whew- what a run-on sentence!I topped my soup with some shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream, and I also put out some tortilla chips to dip into the soup. Tasty (and spicy!)!

rating: 8

Creamy Black Bean Soup
(from the June 2008 issue of Southern Living magazine)

1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth (I used veggie broth)
2 (4.5-ounce) cans chopped green chiles, undrained
1 (14.5-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (11-ounce) can whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
toppings: sour cream, shredded Cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, chopped fresh cilantro

1. Saute onion and garlic in 1 tbsp hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in black beans and next 7 ingredients, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of Dutch oven; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
2. Process 2 cups of soup in blender or food processor 30 seconds or until smooth. Return to dutch oven, and stir until blended. Serve with desired toppings.