Recipe:  Black Bean Soup
Source:  Eating Well, January/February 2010

Servings:  4
Serving Size:  1.25 cups

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
3 cups water
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a large saucepan, add chili powder, cumin, beans, water, salsa and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in lime juice.
2. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree (use caution when pureeing hot liquids). Stir the puree back into the saucepan. Serve garnished with sour cream and cilantro, if desired.

Our Thoughts

So, there's very little I like more than black beans and very little Scott likes less than soup as a meal.  It took me awhile to convince him to make this for dinner, and in the end, he loved it!  We had to make a couple changes to the recipe (we used taco sauce instead of salsa and we had to cook longer than the recipe calls for because all of the water made it runny--we like thicker soups).  Next time we make this, we'll probably cut the water back to 2 cups, and cut the serving size to 1 cup per person.  The soup has a nice spice without being too hot, tastes great with a dollop of light sour cream, and we paired with cheese quesadillas (Mexican grilled cheese!) for a great and filling meal!  We will definitely make again!

 

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars!

 

Nutritional Information:

Calories:  191

Fat:  4g

Protein:  9g

Carbohydrates:  1.5 servings

Fiber:  9g

Cholesterol:  unsure

Iron:  unsure

Sodium:  408mg

Calcium:  unsure