I fear we are rather predictable with at least one bean soup recipe a week… but what can I say?!?! They are my favorite & it’s about to be summer in Miami & no one wants to eat soup anymore.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 chopped onion (I use a yellow onion & cut it into larger slivers, because I love the way onions taste)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cans black beans (rinsed & drained)
• 1 can corn (rinsed & drained)
• pepper to taste
• 1 can tomatoes (crushed, diced, or stewed)

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil & then cook onion, garlic, and carrots until the onion is softened.
2. Add chili powder, cumin, and pepper and stir for approximately 1 minute.
3. Add stock, 1 can of beans & corn & bring contents to a boil.
4. In a blender, puree together can of tomatoes & 1 can of beans. Add to pot. 
5. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. 

The night I made this soup I did exactly as above & it tasted good - but it was missing some ingredients. The next day when I ate some more - I crunched up several whole grain round tortilla chips & threw in a handful of arugula. YUM! The next day ingredients made this recipe a keeper!

Celery and Potato Soup! Making this was truly an adventure. But it came out delicious. First I’ll give you the recipe, then tell you the excitement that happened while I was making it. 1 tbsp Olive Oil 1 small Onion, chopped 4 stalks Celery, chopped 2 medium potato, peeled and diced 4 garlic, minced bay leaf, thyme and parsely 7 cups Water (or veggie broth, I used half of each)

Heat the oil in a large pot and sauté the onions and celery until tender. Add the garlic herbs and potatoes, then add water/broth. Add a dash of salt and pepper and cover. Simmer for about 30 minutes until veggies are very tender. When the veggies are tender remove from heat and let cool. Then use a blender to purée the soup. Reheat and salt to taste and serve.

This soup was really delicious and I added a bit of hot sauce and it added a little heat and took the soup to a whole new level.

Ok so I have to stress that you let the soup cool before you purée it. I didn’t let it cool and that’s where the excitement came in. And it was not fun excitement. Since the soup was still steaming it built up pressure in the blender and blew the lid off as soon as I turned it on. Luckily I was using the pulse feature and the mess was not that big and I didn’t loose much soup. But it scared me and still made a mess. So make sure your soup is cool before you purée and then enjoy! Kerri