Best Ever Black Bean and Rice Soup

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

Well, it is official. As promised, I am on a major soup kick. Every year by late November, I seem to fall into a pattern of preparing soup from scratch two or three times per week. Soup is a crowd pleaser at our house so this works well for everyone. I often choose the type of soup to prepare by looking in the refrigerator and cupboards to see what I have on hand. I then throw it all in a pot with broth and simmer until ready to serve. Tonight's recipe however, was inspired by one of Brad's favorite foods; black beans with rice. He mentioned that I hadn't made any variation of black beans with rice in quite a while so I decided to see if I could find a soup that combines the two ingredients. Voila! The following recipe for Best Ever Black Bean and Rice Soup appeared before my eyes.

Ingredients:

2 cans seasoned black beans (drained, not rinsed)

1 can chicken broth

1 1/2 cups water

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cumin

white rice (follow box or bag instructions for 4 servings)

In large pot, saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add chili powder and cumin. Stir. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for 15 minutes. Put immersion blender directly in pot so that some beans are blended and some remain intact. Place cup of rice in bowl, pour soup over rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.

This soup was tasty. I initially found it to be a bit bland but after I took a few bites with cilantro, I began to enjoy the combined flavors of cilantro, cumin and chili. Brad liked it from the first bite so perhaps my taste buds were a bit off. This was my first time using an immersion blender, which by the way is a fabulous kitchen tool, and I blended the soup for a few seconds too long. My soup was creamier than intended so the only change I would make is to leave more of the beans intact. This would give the soup more contrast in texture. All in all, this was a successful recipe. I would whip it up again for dinner anytime. Preparation was speedy and the end result was both hearty and nutritious.

Recipe Source:

comfyinthekitchen.com