black bean soup

I'm not a big fan of soup. I like to chew dinner.

But I bought the cookbook Cooking with Trader Joe's at Claire's school's book fair a couple weeks ago, and last night we made the black bean soup for dinner.  (Claire helped.) I could tell from reading the recipe that it would be the good kind of soup . . . the kind that is full of stuff and more like stew or chili.  In fact, this was like a mild chili. If it were my cookbook, I'd call it "Black Bean Chili".

It was yummy! And easy! Really, you know you're on the right track any time a recipe starts out by sauteeing onions.

I served it with corn bread, so we could crumble some into the soup. The specific, capitalized ingredients in the recipe are products sold at TJs . . . but obviously, you can use non-TJ ingredients to make this yourself. :)

Black Bean Soup
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped, or 2 cups bagged Freshly Diced Onion
1 clove crushed garlic, or 1 tsp. jarred Crushed Garlic
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
2 (15-oz) cans Organic Black Beans (do not drain)
1 cup (half a jar) Chunky Salsa
2 Tbsp lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
Plain yogurt, such as Plain Cream Line Yogurt, or sour cream

1. In a medium pot, sauté onions in olive oil until they are soft and translucent. 
2. Sprinkle in cumin and garlic and sauté for a minute; pour in black beans (including juices), salsa, and lime.  Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.  Simmer covered for 20 minutes.
3. Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with a dollop of yogurt.  Chili and Lime Tortilla Chips or other white corn tortilla chips go nicely on the side.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Hands-off Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4-6*

(I'm sorry that once again I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. We were hungry!)

*I question this serving info. Six tiny little elf or pixie children, maybe. Not six human adults.