Easy Black Bean Soup

Black bean or any other kind of soup, there’s nothing better in the winter than a big bowl of soup, right?  I love soup preferably thick and chunky, however almost anything hot will do when the temperature drops. And while there are soups like French onion, that take a long time, there are a lot of great quick soups like this black bean soup, that will really hit the spot in no time. The corn and bacon chowder on the site is quick, I just made a batch for a friend that doesn’t eat pork, using a small chipotle and some sauce for that smoky flavor (and an little heat), so it was vegetarian and really delicious.

Today I did a super easy black bean soup that is vegan, but don’t hold that against it! It’s from John Hagianis, who had a local Greek restaurant and relocated to the midwest. He left us his black bean soup recipe to remember him by. It’s a pretty free-form recipe, so feel free to add or subtract according to taste. This will make 4 generous servings.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and minced (more or less depending on your heat tolerance)
• 4 15-ounce cans black beans
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped, plus more for garnish
• Red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in the bottom of a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, and let it cook for a minute or two to flavor the oil. Add the red pepper, the jalapeno, the beans and the liquid from the cans, the cilantro, and a splash of red wine vinegar. Add the cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, stir, taste for seasonings and adjust to suit your taste. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

I stuck an immersion blender in the soup for about 30 seconds to puree it a bit to thicken it, but you certainly don’t need to. You can serve it with a dollop of sour cream, some cilantro, lime juice and croutons for embellishments.