Black Bean Soup

My mom came over one evening this week to get her Nora fix, and to have dinner with us. Nora is getting her 2-year molars,* and she had been feeling extra-cranky that afternoon. As often happens on such occasions, I just didn’t feel like making dinner. I was spent from several hours of trying to comfort a weepy toddler, and having her wipe popsicle and snot all over me in exchange for my efforts. Yeah… sometimes it’s super-glamorous being a mom.

* Ugh… can teething please be over already??

I suggested that we get takeout, since all that drama didn’t exactly leave me in the mood to cook a nice meal. However, after some welcome distraction from her Grandmommy and her Daddy, plus a dose of Children’s Advil, Nora was feeling better, and by the time bath time was over and the hubby took her back to her room to get her ready for bed, I was talking myself back into cooking. We are trying to stick to a budget more nowadays, and an extra night of takeout just wasn’t in the plan for this week.

So, I reverted to my original meal plan: Black bean soup. This is an old favorite of ours, and it makes a tasty and quick weeknight meal. Pair it with a dollop of sour cream and some fresh tortillas, and it’s dinner.

Time for dinner… and not a moment too soon!

I had time to sit on the back porch with my mom and enjoy the evening for a bit while the hubby picked up lumber for this weekend’s project (another garden box, yay!), and dinner was still ready to go by 8:30. Gotta love that.

Black Bean Soup
Based on this recipe I found on LiveJournal back in the day

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 bulb of garlic
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 jalapeños, minced
1 sweet pepper,** chopped
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable stock
1 Tbsp oregano
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp chili powder
Salt to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
juice of one lime

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrots and sauté until softened. Using a garlic press, press the garlic cloves over the pot and sauté for a couple of minutes longer. Add the tomatoes, jalapeños, and sweet pepper and stir for another minute or two, until softened. Stir in the beans, spices, and vegetable stock.

Let the soup simmer for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and cooked. Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Stir in the cilantro and remove the soup from the heat immediately. Puree the soup in batches in a blender, or use an immersion blender to puree it in the pot.

Stir the lime juice into the pureed soup. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro on top, and tortillas or tortilla chips on the side.

** Or substitute a roasted and peeled Hatch green chile, as the hubby suggested we do. Mmm.