Mexican Black Bean & Vegetable Soup

This soup came together by accident, it was one of those, trying to make something out of nothing moments and it has evolved over the years, but has kept its same Mexican influenced base of vegetables, with its punch of herbs.

I have played around with this soup a little bit, by add brown rice to the mix and serving it with a naught dollop of sour cream to finish it off, just to mix it up from time to time, its absolutely delicious either way, give it a go!

prep time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 35 minutes

serves 4

Ingredients

1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 x Brown onion diced

1 x Russian garlic clove finely diced

1 x Capsicum diced

1x Zucchini diced

2 x Corn on cob / Kernels sliced off

2 x Carrots diced

2 x Celery stalks diced

2 x Tins black beans / drained and rinsed

1 x Large red chilli finely diced

1 x Teaspoon smoked paprika

1 x Teaspoon turmeric

1 x Tin of tomatoes

1 x Good handful coriander leaf & root, finely diced

1 x Litre organic veggie stock or broth

Salt & pepper to taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

Toasted, La Banderita flour tortilla to serve

Method

In a large pot, start by heating olive oil and slowly cooking onions so that they become translucent and soft, create a hollow in the middle of the pot by separating the onions to the side, add your turmeric & paprika, allowing to gently smoke and the aroma to come through, (add a little extra olive oil, stir through).

Add the finely diced coriander root and chilli, stir through. Now start adding the diced vegetables, I normally place these in order of what takes the longest to cook thorough, so starting with carrots, celery, zucchini, etc…until all vege are in the pot, stir through allowing the heating process, add a little extra olive oil or even splash in a little stock if the pot is becoming dry, stirring occasionally for a few minutes.

Finally placing in the tomatoes, garlic, stock and beans, cover with the lid, until all comes to the boil and then remove lid.

Cook until vegetables are tender, but not over cooked.

This soup is kept chunky, so once ready, just season with S&P, serve with fresh coriander on top and a side of toasted tortilla.

Buen Provecho “Bon Appetit”