Magnificent Black Bean, Sweet Potato, Veggie, Lime Soup

I love to cook and I love to make soup - especially when it’s cold and nasty out. 

After 5 days of cold and 2 days of cold and nasty, you know I made soup last night! 

And I made one of my favs - Black bean, sweet potato, veggie, and lime soup. 

This recipe is a combo of several different ones I’ve found over the years - It’s a meal and it’s truly magnificent! 

After I made/ate my Magnificent BBSPVL soup, I posted its magnificence on facebook  - and a lot of my friends asked for the recipe.

So, here it is. 

Sidebar: I don’t use carrots in this recipe... usually. But In the past, and when I’ve had a couple raw carrots that needed to be used sooner rather than later, I’ve added them - you can’t go wrong either way - the choice is yours.

 Magnificent Black Bean, Sweet Potato, Veggie, Lime Soup - ENJOY  

SO YUMMY 

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil - maybe a little more?? I don't know because I usually don't measure the oil - I should but I don't. I use enough to get a good sautée going without the veggies drowning in oil

1 large onion chopped - I prefer vidalia onion - but whatever you have on hand works

2 large sticks of celery, chopped - FYI: Celery has salt, which means you don’t need a super amount of salt for this soup

1 sweet pepper, any color your want - I used yellow, because that's was what was in my fridge

Jalapeno - The amount depends on you - but I HIGHLY suggest you start slowly and use sparingly. A little bit goes a long way. Start out with a quarter jala, chopped

If you prefer another hot pepper, go for it! 

Also, you can use substitute sriracha sauce, instead - it's awesome!  

And if you don’t like hot peppers, - DON”T USE THEM

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1- 2 tsp. ground coriander (less or more depending on your taste) 

1 -2 tsp. ground cumin (less or more - depends on your taste)

1/4 tsp of turmeric 

1/4+ tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp of oregano 

 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar

Himalayans sea salt to taste  - your salt requirements may vary

2 bay leaves - 3 if they are small leaves

1 large sweet potato, peeled, cut into half and or one inch chunks

2 cans (15 oz. can) black beans, rinsed and drained (I use Goya low sodium beans) 

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock (bought or homemade - your choice)

juice from 1/2 a small lime fresh

Chopped Cilantro and Italian Parsley - as much as you want

Diced avocado or guacamole  

Directions

1. Rinse of your beans until there is no more foam, and leave in the colander until ready to use. 

2. Peel and chop your sweet potato (you can use a food processor to chop,) into half and or one inch chunks and put aside until needed.

Sidebar: You can buy sweet potatoes already diced -Target, Trader Joe’s and other grocers sell them that way in and they can usually be found in the fresh refrigerated veggie section. 

3. Chop your onion (I prefer sweet onions,) and celery, saute both in olive oil, on medium low for 7 or 8 minutes. 

4. Immediately add 1/2 of the cumin, coriander, sea salt and oregano to the onion/celery mix and stir baby, stir. 

While the onion/celery are sauteing, chop your sweet pepper, your garlic, and a very little bit of your jalapeno. Add five minutes later, add along with the garlic 

6. Wait a few minutes, add the 4 cups of veggie broth, black beans, bay leaves, (bay leaves help re: remove the musicality from the beans,) and chopped sweet potato, the remainder of the spices to the mix. Stir and simmer on medium for thirty minutes. Occasionally stirring things up. 

Sidebar: Visually, look for gentle bubbling and foam from the beans. 

7. After 30 minutes, check to see if the sweet potatoes are soft, if so fish out the bay leaves, ASAP. 

8. Then, take a slotted spoon and removed 3 drained cups of beans and veggies, put aside in an empty bowl. 

Take an immersion blender ( IF you don't have one, get one - it will change your life,) and place it right in the soup pot and blend. 

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a large measuring cup to remove the contents in the pot into a regular blender. That option gets messy and the soup is hot - BE CAREFUL!

10. After blending, add the 3 cups of strained veggies and beans back in the pot, squeeze 1/2 a small lime into the soup, add the tsp of apple cider vinegar, give everything a good stir and simmer on low for 10 minutes. 

11. Chop the fresh cilantro and Italian parsley and wait. 

Lastly, pour some delicious soup in the bowl, sprinkle copious amounts of chopped cilantro, Italian parsley, some more spicy pepper deliciousness, avocado or guacamole and enjoy!

FYI: If you make the soup too spicy - add another teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a tsp or two of honey to the soup pot - trust me, it works! 

As far as carbs and fiber counts - I don’t have an exact number. 

I usually bolus between 28 and 35 grams of carbs for this soup, because I find I need more coverage with legume based soups -your diabetes may vary~ 

**The ingredients I used to make this soup were dairy and gluten free.