I think my two favorite things to cook are stir fries and soup. (Mmmm…fries….oh wait. Never mind). I love them because they are easy, relatively quick to pull together, and are so adaptable. Plus there’s the potential for lots of leftovers and the ability to basically throw whatever you have in the kitchen together for a nutritious meal.
I have wanting to make black bean soup for awhile, and this weekend I finally got my act together. (You know, chopping onions is REALLY hard work.) I was a little nervous because it seemed like I was adding a lot of chipotle, but I pretty much have no ceiling on my heat tolerance so I knew I could handle it. I didn’t use a recipe but I had a feeling it would come out ok, given my previous soup-making successful.
P.S. what do you do with half a can of chipotles in adobo? That and coconut milk are two ingredients I love but rarely use since I don’t know what to do with the leftovers. I think chipotle scrambled eggs might be on the breakfast menu tomorrow. But I digress.
This is a great recipe because it relies on pantry staples (plus onion and carrot, which you could even leave out if need be). And you can mix it up however you want. I kept it simple but you could add a can of diced tomatoes, garlic, zucchini, corn, whatever you want.
Also, you don’t need a crock pot. Just throw everything together, heat to boil and simmer for 30 min (I think?) and then go on your soup-eating way.
According to Spark Recipes nutritional calculator, 1/4 of this recipe (without garnishes) has about 257 calories with 16 grams of fiber and 14 grams of protein, and a host of nutrients including 23% of your daily iron needs. Whew!
Black Bean Chipotle Soup
Ingredients:
- one medium onion, chopped
- 2 large or 3 small carrots, chopped
- 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2-3 canned chipotle peppers, diced
- 2-3 Tbsp adobo sauce (from the can of chipotles)
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- salt and pepper to taste (I didn’t add any)
- garnishes: chopped cilantro, chopped onions, avocado, cheese, etc.
Directions:
- Add all ingredients into a slow cooker and mix.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- If desired, puree in batches some or all of the soup (using a blender, food processor,etc) until desired consistency is reached. I pureed about 3/4 if it.
- Stir and serve with the same garnishes you would with chili.
Since I can’t really call a blended recipe a meal, as much as I wish I could (guess I need to chew…protein smoothies? I’m full for an hour tops, no matter what) I added avocado and quinoa to my bowl.
After mixing it all up and making it look totally unappetizing, I added a dollop of light sour cream. I would have preferred Greek yogurt but the sour cream was already open and I hate waste. I don’t like sour cream or yogurt as a chili topper but I loved it with the soup. Gave it a “depth of flavor” as they say on Iron Chef.
Some blogger (don’t remember who, sorry!) wrote that the uglier-looking the food, the better is tastes. I think she had something with that one. This was an excellent soup. The heat wasn’t as strong as I was expecting, and the simplicity of the ingredients allowed the flavors of the peppers and the beans to really shine through.
(And I don’t know why but with my new camera, all my photos are a lot more rectangular that my old ones were and I don’t think I like it. Does anyone know if that’s something I can fix in the settings or something? Hmm…)
I’m listening to American Idol (don’t hate) while writing this post and the girl just talked about how she can say “give me a kiss” in seven languages. Which brings me to tonight’s uber-random questions. I want to learn the foodie and non-foodie sides to my lovely readers!
- How many (and what) languages do you speak? I used to be “proficient” in Spanish (meaning, not fluent but close enough) but I’ve lost nearly all of it since college, which makes me sad. And I can say a smattering of words/phrases in Hebrew, Russian…and I think that’s it. Bo-ring!
- What food(s) are you craving right now? This took care of my black bean soup craving, but lately it’s been slow-roasted sweet potatoes, sautéed chard…ok, ok, and a juicy hamburger with French fries (mmm…fries). And frozen yogurt.
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i speak chinese like a 3rd grader. meaning i understand everything my mom says around the house, but i dunno curses and i can’t watch movies.
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I speak Spanish and English. And I am actually not craving anything…except maybe some BBQ for some odd reason. Oh dear lord – the last time I craved BBQ was when I was pregnant. LOL
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I am horrible at learning foreign languages. I took Spanish for six years and can’t speak a lick of it. Actually, I can speak it (badly) but I can’t understand it. At all.
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For the chiptoles in adobo, put the rest in a little ziploc bag. Wash the can out, dry it and put the little baggie back in the can and put it in the fridge. Keeping the can helps you remember what the heck those things are.
I think they keep for a very long time that way….what they heck is going to grow on that spicy stuff? For coconut milk, I freeze leftovers in ziploc bags. Hope that helps!
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I got around in Spain in Spanish, and I can usually understand people’s conversations
That soup looks great! I love making soup, and most of the food I blog about is a pile of ugly mush, but tastes awesome haha!
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I’m like you, I used to be good at Spanish, but now I’m just okay. Since being over here, I’ve picked up a fair (but not good) amount of German and a teeny tiny bit of French. Hmmmm, foods I’m craving right now…some good ol’ fashioned Texas BBQ. That doesn’t really exist in Germany. And some quality Mexican food…that, unfortunately, also doesn’t really exist in Germany.
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PS – Your soup looks freaking awesome!!!
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Your soup gave me hiccups for about half an hour. It was delicious
I speak Franish – French and Spanish but not well enough in either language so I usually end up combining the two and then no one understands me.
Also, I can say “I don’t speak Thai” – in Thai.
I’m craving Sushi Deli. And a nutella crepe from Paris.
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