Spicy Black & Red Bean Fire Roasted Soup

Shortly after we married, Graham found an article in the Wall Street Journal extolling the virtues of soup. High in volume, but low in calories. From my perspective, soup’s also a huge time saver. I can easily make a couple of different pots over the weekend, and because the flavors have time to meld, they taste even better on Tuesday than on Sunday. Plus I always know what we can have for dinner on weeknights, and reheating is fast and easy. If I want, I can also easily freeze individual servings, though I always wait until after the flavors meld.

This is particularly true of one of my very favorites – Spicy Black & Red Bean Fire Roasted Soup. It’ll warm you to your bones in the winter months, but its hearty enough that I feel like I got some good protein and fiber for dinner.

I have my aunt to thank for the recipe. Years ago, she sent me a recipe from the the November 1998 Cooking Light magazine. I modified the recipe, adding in jalapeno and chili powder for a bit of extra kick, and using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock to make it vegetarian friendly. My Texas sensibilities cannot fathom the canned chopped green chilies in the original version, so I opt for 1-2 fresh jalapenos instead. The final version is a vegan, and packed with fiber and flavor.

Ingredients:

Ingredients: black beans, kidney beans, no-salt diced tomatoes, fire roasted tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, garlic (not pictured), olive oil, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, chili powder. OPTIONAL: fresh crinkle cut carrots, frozen whole kernel corn.

You’ll need 1 can each:

• Organic Black Beans
• Organic Kidney Beans
• Muir Glen Organic No-Salt Added Diced Tomatoes
• Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies

The most important ingredient: Muir Glen Organic Fire Roast Tomatoes with Green Chilies

I’ve tried other Fire Roasted Tomatoes on the market, and every one seems to fall short of Muir Glen’s flavor. The only problem is that they can be a little hard to find. Locally, they’re available at Central Market. If you love the recipe as much as I do, buy in bulk on amazon, where a pack of 12 cans will cost you $24.80 – a great deal. In a pinch, you can also use a can of Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chilies, but the result won’t have the fire roasted taste that really kicks the recipe up a notch. You’ll still have lots of good flavor though.

You’ll also need these fresh, whole ingredients:

• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1-2 jalapenos (depending on how much heat you like)
• 2 tsp minced garlic (not pictured)
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 3 cups vegetarian vegetable broth
• dash salt
• pepper to taste
• 2 TBSP Penzey’s medium chili powder

You can also use any of these optional ingredients

• 1 cup fresh crinkle cut carrots
• 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn

Enjoy!