Easy Black Bean Soup

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 (14 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (with juices)

3 (14 ounce) cans black beans (drained & rinsed)

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies (with juices)

1/2 red bell pepper (chopped)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon lime juice

Salt & pepper (to taste)

Toppings (optional): chopped cilantro (recommended), sour cream, tortilla strips, avocado, etc. (to taste)

Directions

Add the oil and onion to a soup pot and sauté it over medium heat for 5-7 minutes (it's ok if it lightly browns - more flavor!).

Stir in the garlic, followed by the broth, diced tomatoes, beans, green chilies, red bell pepper, and spices.

Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Cover the pot with the lid slightly open, reduce the heat, and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Using either an immersion blender or a regular blender, blend most of the soup (use caution - you may want to let it cool a bit first). You can blend it all, but I like to leave it a bit chunky.

Stir in the lime juice, and season with salt & pepper as needed (I found that I needed to add a fair amount of salt).

Serve as-is or with desired toppings.

Nutrition

• Calories: 347 kcal
• Total Fat: 5 g
• Saturated Fat: 1 g
• Sodium: 1726 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 59 g
• Dietary Fiber: 23 g
• Total Sugars: 4 g
• Protein: 20 g