Spicy Black Bean Soup - Slow Cooker

This was spicier than I thought it would be. Rob and I love hot, hot, hot, but this was too much for Bo. You could cut down on the jalapeño and chili powder to make this more kid-friendly. INGREDIENTS: 1 pound dry black beans, soaked overnight 1 medium white onion 2 cloves garlic 1 large diced jalapeño pepper 2 Tbsp olive oil 6 cups veggie broth 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt, black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

	Drain black beans, and rinse. Saute onion, jalapeño, garlic in olive oil till soft in slow cooker base on stove top.
	Add beans and broth. Season with garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, pepper, and salt.
	Transfer base to slow cooker. Cook on Dual for 6-8 hours. *Serve over rice, with sour cream, limes, tortilla strips, avocado.

Vegetarian Enchilada Soup

I got this recipe from Lexi about a year ago and just gave it a go. I made a few changes to make it vegetarian - Lexi's recipe includes chicken while it's cooking, plus chicken stock instead of the veggie. 

It's easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. Hope you all give this a try. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 1 large jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles, undrained
• 2 cups veggie broth 
• 1 (15-ounce) can yellow corn, drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 8 corn tortillas
• canola oil, enough to fill a small skillet 1/2-inch high
• garnish options: sour cream, shredded chihuahua cheese, sliced green onion, avocado, fresh squeezed lime, chopped cilantro, grilled and shredded chicken

DIRECTIONS

1. Sauté onion and jalapeño in a bit of oil until soft and onions are just starting to caramelize 
2. In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, purée the onion, jalapeno, garlic, chili powder, cumin, sugar, oregano, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and green chiles. Transfer to a large stock pot.
3. Add veggie broth, corn and black beans to the pot. Heat over medium heat until ingredients are heated through.
4. While soup warms up, prepare tortilla strips. Stack the tortillas and slice into 1/4-inch strips, then slice the larger strips into halves. Heat oil in a small cast-iron skillet to 350 degrees F (or until very hot so when the tip of a wooden spoon is inserted into oil, the oil will bubble around the spoon). Add a handful of tortilla strips and fry until golden and crispy, 1-2 minutes, separating with tongs so they don’t stick together. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate or baking sheet and immediately season with kosher salt.
5. When ready to serve soup, garnish with tortilla strips and anything else you'd like!