You Know That Black Bean & Chorizo soup I Mentioned Yesterday? Here It Is!

So this is the Black Bean & Chorizo soup that I mentioned in yesterday's post.   

I made the soup at the end of October and it was AMAZING - And not terribly difficult to make. 

It was quite filling and easy on the blood sugars and the leftovers froze really well. 

You can also skip the chorizo and make a completely vegetarian by adding more veggies into the mix and sautéing said veggies in olive oil. 

I changed the original recipe and made it my own - And I hope you like it!

INGREDIENTS: 

8 to 10 ounces of mexican chorizo sausage

1 large yellow onion diced in medium chunks

1 large yellow/red/orange or green sweet pepper diced into medium chunks

3 to 4 cloves of minced garlic 

2 or 3 Bay leaves to remove the musical element from the black beans

Three to four 15 ounce cans of black beans - drained & rinsed

One 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes - fire roasted if you can find them

One 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes (drained) 

a few tables spoons of tomato paste 

2 to 4 cups of vegetable broth (I use organic) depending upon the soup consistency that suits your palate. 

1 whole chopped chipotle chili pepper in adobe. 

I used one and a half, but I like things REALLY spicy.

Chipotle chile in adobe is really spicy & salty - I chopped and added the first chili to the mix and then as the soup simmered I added more to taste. 

Also, no need to add salt to the soup - the adobe chili has enough salt for the whole soup.

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of coriander 

1 teaspoon of turmeric 

Fresh squeezed lime juice to taste - It gives it pop! 

guacamole or diced avocados 

Chopped cilantro generously sprinkled as a garnish!

In a frying pan, remove the chorizo from it's casing ( it's that membrane type of thing that hold the sausage together) and saute  until cooked. 

Remove chorizo with a slotted spoon into a separate dish and leave about 2 tablespoons of the chorizo fat in the pan, reserve the rest. 

Add the chopped onion, yellow pepper and garlic into the pan,sautéing over medium heat until the onions are translucent - And don't forget to stir up the mixture - Add the reserved chorizo fat as needed

Here's a picture of how the veggies should look~

Next, take all the ingredients ( except for the lime, cilantro and guacamole/diced avocados) and put into a dutch oven or a big, deep pot and simmer on medium for about 15 minutes - stirring intermittently. 

After 15 minutes, switch to a low simmer for 45 minutes - Stirring occasionally.

I partially covered the pot - but you don't have to.

Also, you can simmer the soup on the lowest of the low, for a couple of hours as long as you stick around to give the soup a good whirl when needed.

THIS IS WHAT the simmery deliciousness like: 

When you're ready to eat, transfer some soup into a bowl, add a tablespoon of guacamole on top (FTR: I had every intention of using diced avocado, but when I sliced into the sucker it had gone bad,) a generous dusting of diced cilantro and fresh fat lime wedge lavishly squeezed into the mix!

TA- DA!!!

I had no blood sugar issues with this soup. 

I did add a couple extra tablespoons of vegetable broth to the mix every time reheated it.

When I froze the leftover soup and then reheated it, I found a slight change to the texture, but the taste was still amazing. 

As far as a nutritional breakdown, I don't have one - I loused for between 30 and 40 carbs depending on what soup bowl I was using.