Black Bean Soup - ala Chilis
Back in the late 80s or early 90s my sister had a job as a server at Chilis and she brought home some black bean soup. I loved it and sometimes I would stop in there just for a bowl of this soup. Chilis took it off the menu years ago so I went in search of a way to make it myself. I don't like to cook, so there's that, but I did find a recipe that brought me in the ballpark. I use a blender to make this. I also found out that the soup is best when you let it cool to room temperature and then put it in the fridge overnight. This recipe has sausage and chicken broth, but it might be good with substitutions. It's mostly vegetables. (also, I do rinse the black beans in a colander. I learned about that the hard way. 
) Here goes:
Ingredients
3 - 15.5 oz cans of Black Beans
1 - large carrot diced up
1/2 - teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 - large celery stalk diced up
4 - tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
1 - tablespoon lime juice
2 - cloves minced garlic
1 - heaping teaspoon ground cumin
3 - cups chicken broth
1 - large onion (somewhere between a baseball and a
Softball. I use the red ones, but I’m sure the others are fine too)
1 - Hillshire Farm type Smoked Beef Sausage 12oz
1 - tablespoon tomato paste
1 - box of Saltines or tortilla chips (optional)
1. Cut the sausage into bite size pieces, fry for a
few minutes, strain off the grease and set aside.
(I cut mine into thin circles)
2. Chop up the celery, carrot, and onion. Chop up
the cilantro too, but keep it separate from everything
else.
3. Add the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, and cumin to
the pot. Saute until softened on
medium heat for about 5 minutes.
4. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor. I
add one cup of chicken broth to this mix because my
blender needs all the help it can get. Liquefy. Rinse
your pot and pour the mixture back in.
5. Blend up 2 cans of Black Beans with 2 cups of
chicken broth. I usually do one can/cup at a time
because of my poor piece of junk blender. Add the
Black Bean/Chicken Broth mixture to the pot too.
6. Drain the last can of Black Beans and add to the
pot. Add the sausage, cilantro, tomato paste, lime
juice, and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly.
7. Heat slowly on medium and serve with the saltines.
Enjoy!
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