I like black bean soup to have a smooth base, but with some whole beans and other veg­gies to give it tex­ture. I also like just a bit of kick to it, the amount of spice that can be quenched with a mar­garita, and not so much that you need to drink a glass of milk with din­ner! To make this recipe you will need a hand held immer­sion blender or a counter-top blender. Try this soup with some warm Coun­try Corn­bread, spread with butter.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 ounces mild chorizo (The V&V Supremo “No Picante” vari­ety is eas­ily avail­able in most gro­cery stores)
• ½ white or yel­low onion, diced
• 4 gar­lic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
• 1 green pep­per, diced
• 2 large car­rots, diced
• 2 stalks cel­ery, chopped
• 2–3 cups chicken broth
• 2 Table­spoons tomato paste
• 3 cans black beans, thor­oughly rinsed
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• Sea­son To Taste with salt, pep­per, dried oregano, cumin, corian­der, chili powder
• 1–2 limes. juiced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Direc­tions

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the chorizo until it starts to turn brown and releases its oil. Add the onion, gar­lic, jalapeno, bell pep­per, car­rots and cel­ery and sauté until the onion is translu­cent and the car­rots are begin­ning to soften. Take about 1/3 of the chorizo and veg­etable mix­ture out of the soup pot and set aside.
2. Stir the tomato paste into the remain­ing mix­ture.  Add the chicken stock and half of the rinsed black beans and bring to a sim­mer. Use the blender to liq­uefy the soup, adding more chicken stock if nec­es­sary to thin. Add the remain­ing beans and reserved chorizo and veg­eta­bles . Add the frozen corn and return the soup to a sim­mer. Sea­son to taste with salt and pep­per, dried oregano, cumin, corian­der, chili pow­der, lime juice and fresh cilantro.