Black Bean Soup

Now that it's not 100 degrees (it's about 98), time for soup, right? This one really is a soup. I promised this a while back. Here's Don's rendition of the Black Bean Soup on the back of the Ranch Style® Black Beans can.

2 T. cooking oil
½ C chopped carrots
½ C chopped celery
½ C chopped onion
2 cans Rotel (used mild)
3 cans Ranch Style Black Beans, undrained
1 can corn (used ½, and reserved the other half for fritters)
¼ C fresh cilantro
Salt
Sour cream
Scallions, chopped

In a large Dutch oven, sauté carrots, celery and onions in the oil over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until tender. Add remaining ingredients except the cilantro. Heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add the cilantro, turn off the heat and use the immersion blender (we call it the “Boat Motor”) to blend till almost smooth. Taste and add salt if needed.

Ladle into bowls, place a dollop of sour cream in the middle of each and garnish with chopped green scallions.

Makes 4-6 servings (we ended up with about 5 decent sized bowls)

This has a little kick to it, but not unreasonable. Warm enough for those guys who need some heat, but calm enough for folks like me who can't handle anything too hot.