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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Broke-Ass Black Bean-Corn-Tomato Soup

This is heart-smart, low-fat, spicy, goes a long ways, and is cheap as HELL to make.

$1.19 for my tomatoes, $0.89 for the corn, and $1.69 for the black beans, large onion $0.35. Total: $4.12. Serves 6. Yeah. That'll save your paycheque. It's basically like chili without the beef -- or the four hours of simmering.

(The recipe is from one of Anne Lindsay's healthy cookbooks popular here in Canada, except I actually SEASON it. :) Mine's medium-hot, so adjust seasoning accordingly.

1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

Saute onion in a stockpot or Dutch oven until translucent or golden, then add:

1 tablespoon hot Mexican chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon coriander

As it starks to stick to the pot, add 1/2 cup water and let simmer a moment. Then add:

1 can sweet corn (or 1-2 cobs shorn*, or 1.5 cups frozen)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, 28 oz.

Mix well, add enough water to make yourself happy. Splurge, if you like, and use chicken stock. I used about 2 cups of water. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the flavours are happy. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you want, puree some of the soup at the end for a nicer consistency. I pureed 1/3 of the soup and it's now a bit creamy looking, which I really like. If you want to splurge more, other ways to make it into an expensive-tasting experience: Mix 1/4 cup lime juice in right before taking it off the heat. Chop 1 cup cilantro and add at the very end. Serve with a tablespoon of sour cream.

*If you use the cobbed corn for this, or ANY soup recipe, ALWAYS throw the cob, after you've stripped it of kernels, into the soup and cook the cob in the soup till you're about to serve it. Why? The starch (CORNstarch?) helps naturally give the soup more body, plus more corn flavour. Throw the cob out at the end.