Black bean soup

Prep time: 20 minutes
Serves: ~6 servings
Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp avocado oil for cooking

• 1 30 oz black bean

• 3 cups broth

• 2 tbsp of herbs province

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp of thyme

• 3-4 stalks celery, diced

• 3 cloves of minced garlic

• 1 carrot, diced

• 1 onion, diced

• salt to taste

• Cilantro topping

• Roasted pumpkin seed topping (optional)

• Wedge of lime

• Olive oil for serving

Cooking Tools:

• Medium soup pot

• hand-held blender

Directions :

1. Heat the avocado oil in the pot, and then add the cumin to cook for ~15-20 seconds till fragrant.

2. Add in the diced onion, celery, and carrots for and saute. Once everything softens, or in about 5~6 minutes, add in the broth and black beans.

3. Once the soup comes to a boil, add in all the herbs, and continue to let it cook for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Turn off the fire, and being very careful, (or wait until the soup cools), spot blend the soup with the immersion blender for 1-2 minutes till about half of it is blended smooth, and the other half still retains its texture. An alternative to this is to scoop out about half of the soup, fully blend the remaining soup, then add the scooped out portion back in. You can always fully blend the soup if you prefer a smooth texture.

5. Salt to taste, this will depend on your personal preference but don’t add to much at once! The sodium level of your broth/stock will determine how much you should add, for me since my stock tends to be on the saltier side, it’s about 1/2-1 tsp of salt.

6. If you’re dry roasting pumpkins seeds from scratch, heat up a small pan on medium/low heat, add in the pumpkin seeds, evenly distribute in the pan and gently swish and roast the seeds until fragrant, or about 1-2 minutes.

7. Serve with soup topped with seeds, cilantro, a touch of good olive oil, and a squeeze of lime!

Cooking Tip:

• I sometimes microwave the celery, onion and carrot for 2-3 min to soften first. It cuts down the cooking time, and reduces the amount of acrylamide produced.

• If you don’t have a hand-blender, putting everything to blend in a blender after also works!

Stay healthy with Annie:

• This is a great winter recipe for a boost of feel good iron, particularly with some vitamin C from the lime to increase its absorption!

• Use a vegetable stock to make this rich, flavorful recipe completely vegan!