A new recipe, Southwest Black Bean Soup

Today we drove to Lancaster so Cari could participate in a dog fair thingy.  On our way home, the standard question came up, "What's for dinner?"  Neither Cari or I had a clue so I told her I would "wing it" and make some kind of black bean soup.  So I looked through the fridge and cupboards and came up with the recipe below.  Because of the diced tomato with fire roasted peppers it has somewhat of a southwest flair.  For the corn, I used Trader Joe's Roasted Corn (frozen) but you can use any corn.  One kid said they didn't like the red bell pepper in is, so you may want to leave it out if red bell pepper is not your thing.  It turned out very yummy and I plan on making it again soon!!  I call it Southwest Black Bean Soup.


Southwest Black Bean Soup

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup vegetable broth, divided
1 cup water
1 can fire roasted dice tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn (roasted corn is even better!)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, saute the onion, red bell pepper and garlic in 1/4 cup of vegetable broth for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.  You may want to use a potato masher to mash some of the black beans (optional).
   

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