Spicy Black Bean Soup

SERVES: around 9

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
• 6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 4 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use 1/4 teaspoon if you’re sensitive to spice)
• 4 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 cups (32 ounces) chicken broth
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• fresh lime juice to taste (about 2 - 3 limes)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Optional garnishes: diced avocado, extra cilantro, thinly sliced radishes, tortilla chips…

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and carrot and a light sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetable are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the beans and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, reducing heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, until the broth is flavorful and the beans are very tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Transfer about 4 cups of the soup to a stand blender, securely fasten the lid, and blend until smooth (never fill your blender past the maximum fill line, and beware the steam that escapes from the top of the blender, it’s very hot). Or, use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup.
4. Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir in the cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve.

NOTE: Might be able to cook this in a slow cooker for 6 hours by combining everything at once.

Adapted from: https://cookieandkate.com/spicy-vegan-black-bean-soup/

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 8 oz lean ground beef
• 8 oz ground pork
• 1/2 cup fresh hearty white bread crumbs*
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan
• 1 large egg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Soup

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups 1/4-inch diced carrots
• 1 1/4 cups diced yellow onion
• 3/4 cup 1/4-inch diced celery
• 4 cloves garlic , minced (1 1/2 Tbsp)
• 5 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup dry acini de pepe or orzo pasta**
• 6 oz fresh spinach , chopped
• Finely shredded parmesan , for serving

Instructions

For the meatballs:

1. Add beef and pork to a large mixing bowl. Add in bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, parmesan, egg, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
2. Gently toss and break up mixture with hands to evenly coat and distribute. Shape mixture into very small meatballs, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch and transfer to a large plate.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook until browned, turning occasionally (to brown on 2 or 3 sides), about 4 minutes total.
4. Transfer meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels while leaving oil in skillet. Repeat process with remaining meatballs (note that meatballs won't be cooked through at this point, they'll continue to cook through in the soup).

For the soup:

1. While meatballs are browning, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onions and celery and saute until veggies have softened about 6 - 8 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
2. Pour in chicken broth, season soup with salt and pepper to taste and bring mixture to a boil. Add in pasta and meatballs, reduce heat to light boil (about medium or medium-low).
3. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until pasta is tender and meatballs have cooked through, about 10 minutes, while adding in spinach during the last minute of cooking. Serve warm, sprinkle each serving with parmesan cheese.

Notes

*I recommend using bread such as a La Brea french loaf. Just grind up a slice in a food processor to fine crumbs. Save the remaining bread for serving (slathered with butter of course) or freeze for another later use.

**If you like a more brothier soup you can reduce pasta to 3/4 cup. Note that as the soup sits the pasta will absorb more broth so you can add more broth to thin the soup as desired.

From: https://www.cookingclassy.com/italian-wedding-soup/