Black Bean Soup

Happy Labor day everyone.  I'm sure there are countless backyard grills going as I write this, with hamburgers and hotdogs.  Alex and I left our trusty grill back in California, I think our little car would have looked quite the sight with a big red charcoal grill strapped to the roof as we drove 3,000 miles across the country.

This leads us to the realization that we cannot grill this holiday, sad day.  I did not disrepair, since this gives me the opportunity to try out a recipe that I found on Babble.  It's an adaptation from a recipe found on Smitten Kitchen.

Meatless Mondays is something that I've been trying to do for some time now.  Some weeks it works some weeks it doesn't.  This week is a success even though Alex tried to convince me that the soup needed ground turkey, I did not give in to the meat temptation.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 celery ribs, diced.
• 1 red bell pepper, diced 
• some baby carrots, chopped 
• 5 garlic cloves, diced 
• olive oil
• 1 (16 oz) package of dried black beans
• 7 cups of hot water 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder 
• Juice of 1 lime 
• Salt to taste 
• Sour cream to top

Directions:

• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in pan.
• Saute onions and garlic until soft 

• Place onions and garlic into slow cooker 
• Heat another drizzle of olive oil in pan 
• Saute carrots, red bell pepper, and celery for about 5 minutes.  
• Add vegetables to slow cooker
• Add beans, cumin, and chili powder to slow cooker
• Pour water over vegetables 

• Cook on low for 5 hours.
• Add salt  and lime juice
• Puree about half the soup in a blender or using an immersion blender (since I have neither I used a potato masher).
• Serve topped with the sour cream.  (omit sour cream for a vegan dish)