A Fabulous Sounding Soup

This one's for you, Lost in Translation!

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

2 cans (15 oz ea) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

2 med onions, finely chopped

1 t. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 t. cumin

3 c. vegetable broth

1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin

2 T. cider vinegar

1/2 t. pepper

2 T. bourbon, optional

Optional Garnishes:

sour cream

sliced green onions

roasted salted pumpkin seeds

shredded cheese

Place beans and tomatoes in a food processor/blender and blend to desired consistency. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven/soup pot, saute onions in oil until tender. Add garlic and cumin; saute 1 minute longer. Stir in the broth, pumpkin, vinegar, pepper, and bean mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in bourbon if desired. Garnish each serving with whatever you think sounds tasty.

Notes: I did not use bourbon. I never do. And it was delectable.

Oh, and there are a lot of recipes online for a black bean pumpkin soup, but the main one in circulation for some reason has ham in it. And beef broth. Ick. That just does not sound appetizing to me AT ALL. This recipe is from my Taste of Home: Healthy Cooking magazine, is meatless, and is also ridiculously good. The ingredients are ones I think I pretty much always have on hand, too. I highly recommend garnishing it with at least the green onions and cheese, and if you have some, the sour cream. I ate the last of it for lunch today by scooping it up in tortilla chips. Mmm!

Thai-style Black Bean Salad

Friends, friends, friends. Seriously. I made this salad tonight before mutual, let it refrigerate for about 2 hours (okay, 1 hour, because Mark got it out of the fridge at 7 and forgot about it...), then tried some, and I couldn't wait to post it on here for your viewing (& eating) pleasure. So good!! And so healthy. I got the brilliant idea to eat mine with tortilla chips and it was a perfect match. Here goes:

1 c. frozen corn

1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 small onion, chopped

1 celery rib, sliced thin

1 small sweet red pepper, chopped

1/4 c. minced fresh cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped fine

2 T. sesame oil

1 T. rice vinegar

1 T. lime juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 t. minced fresh gingerroot

1/2 t. salt

Modifications: I doubled it, but left out the celery and jalapeno, and only used 1 medium red pepper instead of 2 small ones.

Directions: heat frozen corn according to package directions. Add beans, onion, celery, peppers, and cilantro. In a small bowl whisk together the last 6 ingredients. Pour over bean mixture and mix to coat. Chill for at least one hour to allow the flavors to marry.

Hallelujah for this recipe. It really hit the spot for me tonight! I hope you will try it.