Name: Black Bean and Sausage Soup (Vegetarian Option)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 medium onion, chopped; 3 cloves of garlic, chopped; 1 red bell pepper, chopped; 2 carrots pealed, chopped (3/4 cup baby carrots may be substituted, chopped); 1 bay leaf; 1 shake red pepper flakes (or more if you like heat); 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cumin; 2 teaspoons dried Mexican Oregano; 1 tsp Chili Powder; 1/2 cup orange juice; 1 tablespoon sherry (I've also used Port, Marsala, any of the dry sweeter wines) (optional); 1-2 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional, I like Hickory smoke); 1 lime, juiced; 4 cups chicken broth or stock (or vegetable broth if keeping vegetarian); 1 pound or package of Polish Kielbasa or Andouille Sausage, sliced bite size; 1/2 cup fresh cilantro; chopped cilantro; lime slices; avocado; sour cream; Crumbled Mexican or Jack cheese; Rice

Black Bean and Sausage Soup is thick, satisfying, creamy, and filling, with hickory and citrus notes, it will quickly become a family favorite. Loaded with good-for-you black beans, veggies, broth and if desired, diced kielbasa sausage. Omit the sausage and swap out the chicken broth and you have a delicious, filling vegetarian meal!

EASY BLACK BEAN & SAUSAGE SOUP

Did you start a diet with the New Year? I’m seeing loads of posts of people talking about Whole30, Paleo, Keto, etc. I’ve been dieting since I was in my teens and now that I’m in my early 50’s, frankly, I’m tired! That’s a lot of years of being conscientious of what I eat, an uphill battle most of the time, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to go off the rails, I just don’t want to worry so very much.

HEALTHIER BLACK BEAN SOUP

I’m at the point in life where I want to be healthy, eat healthy, stay active and as long as I’m doing all those things, then I am okay with the me that I am. And if that means I’m carrying more weight than I’d like, well, C’est la vie! Does it mean I will never go on a “diet” again, nope, no guarantees! But for today, that is how I’m feeling.

Would you join me in being okay with the you that you are? If you need to take steps to be healthy, by all means take them, but if you are doing just about everything you can and still haven’t experienced what the media calls “success” then join me in being kinder to yourself, loving the you God created you to be; resting more, stressing less; moving more, sitting less; loving more, judging less…especially our bodies and what the media says they should look like.

Start eating healthy by creating this warm, delicious soup!

Here is the cast of characters…

Open your beans, pour them into a colander, rinse and leave to drain.

Heat your medium soup pot over medium-high heat, pour in a couple tablespoons olive oil and add your chopped onion, carrots and garlic.

While your carrots, onions and garlic are sautéing slice up your red pepper.

PEPPER SLICING TIP | An easy way to slice up a bell pepper. Stand it on end and starting at the stem, slice down to the bottom of the pepper, slowly curving your knife with the curve of the pepper.

Chop up the red pepper and add to onions and carrots, sautéing for a few minutes. Do you have these little flexible cutting boards? They are the best for this type of thing!

While your veggies are sautéing, add all of your spices to a small mixing bowl. We’ll start with sea salt. Add cumin and oregano

Chili powder…add more if you like your soups spicier, I am a known wimp. You may also add a shake or more of red pepper flakes.

Finally toss in your bay leaf.

Pour your rinsed and drained black beans into the softened veggies and mix to combine.

Dump in your spices and stir to combine.

Add chicken broth (or veggie broth if keeping vegetarian)…

Optional Additions for WOW Flavor

Sherry (or Tawny Port)
Orange juice
Liquid smoke* (hickory works great, I use more for smokier flavor)

*Liquid smoke can be found in your grocery store, ours is located near the BBQ sauces, Worcestershire sauces, etc.

Do you have one of these babies? I love my immersion blender also called a stick blender, it’s so convenient to use to blend soups, sauces, smoothies.

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No immersion blender? Do the same thing buy placing a couple cups of soup at a time in a regular blender or even better, in a Vitamix if you have one, in which case, you can put the entire pot of soup (minus the pot – tee-hee) in and blend until smooth.

Remove your bay leaf, before blending!

Look at those beautiful little swirls of creamy goodness.

Once you’ve reached your desired texture, slice and add your sausage*. Heat until warmed through. *Obviously omit sausage out if you are making it vegetarian.

Easily convert this to a vegetarian soup by omitting the sausage and using veggie broth instead of chicken broth.

Add your cilantro, I forgot to get fresh cilantro (much better) but I had some freeze-dried cilantro so I rehydrated it and poured it in.

Finish by adding the juice of one lime.

Serve with a fresh wedge of lime, if you have it a little left over rice, put a scoop in.

Topping Suggestions

Chopped Cilantro
Crumble a little Cotija cheese or any other Mexican cheese. Jack works well too.
Lime slices
Avocado
Rice, cooked (white or brown)
Finish with a little swirl of sour cream, Mexican Crema or greek yogurt

Garnish with a little fresh cilantro and serve with warm corn or flour tortillas or crispy tortilla chips.

Give these other warming recipes a try:

All soups are delicious with warm bread like one of these:

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Yield: 4-6 servings