Ready in 45 minutes

Serves 8 people

280 calories 

15 g protein

• 2 tbsp Olive oil (I don’t use this)
• 2 cups yellow onion (I used 2 tbsp onion powder)
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 1 red bell pepper deseeded and chopped
• 1 tomato diced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic minced (or 4 tsp garlic powder/salt)
• 1 jalapeno seeded and diced (I used pickled jalapenos)
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• Dash celery salt
• Dash heat of choice
• Splash of lime juice
• 60 oz black beans canned, drained
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• Dried bay leaf
• Optional:
  • guacamole/avocado
  • Pace avocado salsa
  • Mexican cheese
  • Tortilla chips

1. *Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add the onion, celery, carrot, tomato, and bell pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.
2. Add salt, pepper, garlic, celery salt, heat, and jalapeño and continue to cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent.
3. Add the cumin, black beans, vegetable stock, heat, lime juice, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for ~30 minutes, or until the beans are very tender.
4. Remove the bay leaf. *Transfer about 4 cups (900 g) of the soup to a blender and carefully purée until smooth, leaving the top vent of the blender open and covering with a kitchen towel to prevent the soup from splattering.
5. Pour the blended soup back into the pot and stir to incorporate. Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish as desired
7. Enjoy!

• *I never use olive oil, I just dumped all the vegetables and onion powder in the pot and stirred.
• *I used an immersion blender right in the pot rather than 
• It doesn’t ‘look’ great, but it tastes really good, plus it’s high protein, and vegetarian/vegan if you don’t add cheese.
• I use ‘better than bullion’ rather than stock.
• My spouse said it’s the best soup I've ever made, but the bar is pretty low because I've really made some awful soups in my past.