One Pan Wonders

Hubby, the kidling and I spent part of the weekend at the used bookstore. I picked up yet another cookbook. 365 Easy Mexican Recipes. I also have 365 Ways to Cook Vegetarian from the same series so I knew it was going to be a good one. I'm loving this book! As promised, the recipes are easy and almost all of them sound good.

To start with, I made the Black Bean Soup.

Black Bean Soup

2 T vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 t dried oregano

1 t ground cumin

1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup prepared red salsa

2 16 oz cans black beans, drained

1 14 oz can chicken broth

1 lime, quartered

cilantro for garnish

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add herbs and spices. Cook until onions begin to brown. Add tomatoes, salsa, beans and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook, 5 minutes, stirring.

In batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Return soup to pan and heat through. Serve with cilantro and lime wedges.


But you all know that I can't follow a recipe, right? :roll:  So  I made a few changes...  I didn't have any salsa in the house, so I used 2 cans of tomatoes instead of one. I also used 3 cans of black beans. I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons dried cilantro instead of adding it as a garnish. I wanted the soup to be vegetarian (vegan!) so I used vegetable bouillon instead of chicken broth. I added two carrots, diced, for color (sauteed with the onions and garlic) and after tasting the almost done soup, added about a tablespoon of chili powder.

Pretty, isn't it?



I don't have a food processor, so I used my stick blender to puree the soup. I left just a few beans whole for texture. I then let the soup cool before spreading it on lined dehydrator trays.



Five trays of soup later...  The dehdrator was set at about 140 degrees and ran for about 5 hours (more or less). 



I'm thinking I can add some instant rice or various veggies (zucchini, tomatoes, corn?) to the finished soup to give me more variety. Taco sauce for more of a kick would be a good addition too.