Crockpot Black Bean Soup
I'll be honest. You won't see thousands of vegan recipes around this blog. However, I do try to do one meatless meal a week. Some people like to do "Meatless Monday." I don't really have a set day, but I do try to incorporate either a vegetarian or vegan meal here or there. This is one I like because it has great flavor and I can get my 6 year old to eat the hidden vegetables. Kids will eat ANY vegetable as long as they don't see it. I've become creative in my old age.
Yesterday I posted a recipe for Weekday Restaurant Quality Ravioli. In that recipe I grate the onion. This can be a pain on your hands and eyes, but it works really well when you want to hide them. You'll see that many of my recipes. I may ask you to do this for texture. This recipe cooks the vegetables down so you can blend them into the soup. Thus, hidden for little eyes who are far too smart for their own good. As Mom's we must outwit these little minds.
Get creative with garnishing this soup. Avocado, chopped mini sweet peppers, cilantro, tortilla chips, lime wedge (or cheese and sour cream depending on if you care or not if it's vegan) etc. It can be quite pretty to look at when you add these splashes of color.
This is a fun soup to make for large crowds because it looks beautiful and is VERY inexpensive to make. If you have a book club or company coming for the weekend, this is an easy soup to make ahead and heat up too. Toss in the ingredients early in the morning you can leave the crockpot to cook the entire day without worry! Whether you're working or just far too busy with other things during the day, this recipe frees you up to do the things you need to without spending much time in the kitchen.
Many grocery chains are allowing people to shop online. If you haven't tried it, you NEED to. WalMart and Lin's grocery in my area allow this. I haven't used it at WalMart yet, but I love being able to save time grocery shopping by driving up and having them load up my car. The fee at Lin's is $1.99 for the service and many times they offer coupons to take away the fee all together. There's also no tipping when you take advantage of this service--at Lin's the $1.99 in my opinion, is well worth the time savings for couple bucks.
Crockpot Black Bean Soup
2 C dried black beans, rinsed*
3 T olive oil
1 C celery, chopped
1 C carrot, chopped
1 large onion or 2 small, chopped
1 jalapeno de-seeded and chopped (optional for spice)
1 handful of chopped fresh cilantro
2 bay leaves
1/2 t red chili flakes (give or take depending on you taste for heat)
a pinch of cumin
4 cloves of garlic, minced
salt to taste
6-8 C vegetable stock*
1/2 C homemade roasted Hatch chili puree or canned diced chili's
Garnish items (optional as desired): avocado, red onion, green onion, lime, tortilla chips, cilantro, sweet mini peppers chopped, lime wedges, cheese, or sour cream.
Place all items in a large crockpot and cook on low overnight or 8-10 hours. Take out the two Bay leaves. Once the beans are soft, blend with a handheld emulsifier or old fashioned potato masher. If you want a less chunky soup use a blender. If the soup is thick add water to thin it. Taste. Season with salt if desired.
*If you want to cut the cook time, use 4 cans of black beans and cook for 4-6 hours (and half the vegetable stock amount).