“Cheesy” Smoky Black Bean Soup (Oil-Free, Gluten-Free)

Here is the 2nd course of my full-day-menu of recipes that I’m sharing from fellow bloggers this week. In case you missed it, click on the link for the amazing first course, Cookies ‘N’ Cream Pancakes! This lunch recipe, which is also perfect for dinner, is from Somer at Vedgedout. She has a wonderful vegan site full of mouth-watering recipes. I drool quite often when visiting her blog. The very second I saw this recipe, no lie, I ran to my kitchen to start prepping. I was short just 2 ingredients, which I easily adapted. I was too eager to make it, so I wasn’t going to the store first.

This soup lived up to every expectation I had once I saw it and envisioned how it would taste. I knew I would love it, because it had a lot of similar flavorings as my Mexican Chili. This soup definitely is different though, with the “cheesy” aspect. Pure deliciousness. I only made a couple of substitutions. I didn’t have tomatoes, so I used a few tablespoons of tomato paste and I didn’t have Anaheim peppers, so I just chopped up a few sliced jalapeños from a jar. It’s a large pot, so I also added about a teaspoon or so of sea salt.  I finished it off with some fresh cilantro (as Somer suggested) and lime juice, it just really made all the incredible flavors pop

Cheesy Smoky Black Bean Soup (Click here for the original recipe)

Ingredients:

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 large garlic cloves, minced

2 carrots, diced

4 anaheim peppers, diced ( I didn’t have any, so I just chopped 3-4 jalapeño slices from a jar)

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 Roma tomatoes, diced (I didn’t have any, so I used about 3-4 tablespoons tomato paste)

3 cans low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed

5 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I omitted)

2 tablespoons tahini

1 cup nutritional yeast

sea salt to taste (I used about 1 1/2 teaspoons because my broth contains no sodium and it’s a large pot)

Garnish: I added cilantro and fresh lime juice which tasted AMAZING!

Directions:

Place anaheims, red bell peppers and onions on a large foil lined baking sheet and broil for 5-10 minutes until a little bit charred. Add peppers and onions to a large saucepan and saute in broth or water with garlic, carrots, tomatoes and spices until onions are tender. Add vegetable stock and black beans. Simmer another 20 minutes. Add nutritional yeast and tahini. Pulse a few times with an immersion blender to make a smooth/chunky consistency. Garnish with diced tomato, chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice, if desired.

This has become my favorite new soup!

Be sure to check out my 30 Minute Mexican Chili!