Spice up your weekend with my smoky vegetarian black bean soup
Lindsey Nair l The Roanoke Times
I’ve been feeling a little under the weather this week, so when I got home last night I really wanted to make a pot of homemade soup without expending too much energy.
Rather than chicken noodle, I was craving something spicy. Black bean soup, to be specific. So I stopped at the store, picked up some cough syrup and wandered aimlessly down a couple of aisles, pushing cans into my basket. The result of my somewhat lackluster shopping experience was actually a pretty darn good soup that can be started at 6 p.m. and on the table by 7, at the latest. So it’s perfect for a weeknight OR a weekend when you’d rather be baking cookies and wrapping presents than slaving away at the stove and making a big mess of the kitchen.
Bonus: This is a vegetarian recipe. I rediscovered my love of smoked paprika by adding a dash to this soup, which gave it a nice smoky flavor without adding bacon or ham. I hope you enjoy this, but if you think you have a better black bean soup recipe, then fire away!
Smoky Vegetarian Black Bean Soup
Serves 6
Olive oil
1/2 onion, diced (about 3/4 cup)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (to taste)
1 can vegetable stock
3 (15 oz.) cans black beans
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes (if you want to buy seasoned ones, I used chili-ready. But Mexican would be good, too)
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika (taste and add more, if you like)
1 tsp. sriracha hot sauce, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat olive oil in a soup pot. Add onions and garlic and saute until onions start to turn transparent. Add all of the other ingredients except salt and pepper and stir well. Simmer for 20 to 40 minutes, however long you have to let it go. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup about 75 percent. Mine was mostly smooth with some nice chunks of tomato and whole beans left in it.
3. Serve hot with cheese, sour cream, and/or some chopped fresh cilantro.
December 16, 2011 - 10:04 AM
RSS feed 
I read someplace that chilies are high in vitamin C and I always crave Mexican food when I’ve got a head cold, which I have now. This sounds like just what the doctor ordered for me this weekend!
Fixing it tonight! Perfect or a cold, wet night. Had to go to Fresh Market for smoked paprika. I saw Spanish sweet paprika, Hungarian paprika, and sweet paprika. What’s the difference?
Hungarian paprika is made in Hungary and generally sweet and rich, Spanish paprika is a milder sweet and can range up to spicy hot. Smoked paprika is made from smoked peppers. It isn’t that spicy, though. It basically depends on what you’re cooking as to what you use.
I had to buy smoked paprika a while back for some recipe, and I throw it in lots of things now…soups, meatloaf,chili…it’s good in everything.
This recipe is similar to one I got at a Weight Watcher’s meeting several years ago. It used Rotel and was quite tasty. I made a variation of your recipe Saturday night, omitting the green chiles, sriracha, and using Hungarian paprika in place of the smoked. I didn’t want it to be too spicy for my 3 y.o. The soup turned out great and I’ve been enjoying the leftovers! This was a perfect quick soup for a busy night!