Black Bean Soup with Kale Ribbons

Hello everyone & thanks for reading! I appreciate your support. Black bean soup recipes are a dime a dozen in vegetarian cookbooks, right? Well, what I love about this black bean soup recipe is it's economical for the budget conscious shopper, it's packed with nutrients & fiber, and it tastes divinely delicious. You get a lot of meals out of one batch. It's simple whole foods at it's best. Plus, I put it in the crockpot in the morning and when I come home it smells so delicious in my apartment! Mmm yummy! Pre-soak your dried beans over night or you can do it in the morning for evening cooking. As long as they can soak for a good 8 hours. Always get rid of the soaking water. This cuts down on the sugars in dried beans that cause you so much gas. And who wouldn't enjoy less gas? Ha! :) I like to use my crockpot, but you could easily adapt this recipe to the stove top and cut the cooking time down to about 1 hour over medium heat simmer. I've added some cooked quinoa to the soup to give it a little more texture. You could easily substitute another grain of your choice such as barley, millet, brown rice, or couscous. This week I am serving this soup with a side of curry roasted yams. It would also be delicious with corn tortillas, cornbread, or a salad. I use this recipe to take lunch to work for 5 days and I freeze the remaining soup for another time.

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Black Bean Soup with Kale Ribbons
6-7 servings

2 cups dried black beans (presoaked)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled & diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
1 tbsp each--dried cumin, oregano & sage
1/2 tsp each--cayenne pepper & black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 carrots, cleaned & diced
2 celery stalks, cleaned & diced
2 bay leaves
Water
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 tsp olive oil
1 bunch kale, sliced into thin ribbons
1 bunch cilantro, washed & chopped
Optional: sour cream or plain yogurt

1.) Place pre-soaked black beans in the crockpot and turn on heat to high. Set aside.
2.) Place olive oil in a skillet and warm over medium heat.
3.) Add the onions and saute for 8 minutes until starting to turn translucent.
4.) Add the garlic & the cumin, oregano, sage, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt. Continue to saute for about 5 minutes more until the spices are fragrant. Turn off heat and remove the pan.
Add the onion spice mixture to the crockpot.
5.) Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery and bay leaves to the crockpot. Add enough water to cover the beans and vegetables. In my crockpot it's about 4 cups. Put the lid on and let cook for approximately 8 hours. I like the texture of this soup to be very creamy. So I either run it through the food processor or use my immersion blender once it's cooled slightly.
6.) Add the cooked quinoa and stir. Taste and adjust spices as needed.
7.) Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the kale and cover. Let saute for about 5 minutes until the kale is slightly wilted but still bright green.
8.) Top each bowl of soup with kale ribbons and a pinch of fresh cilantro.
9.) Top with optional sour cream or yogurt.