Smoky Refried Bean Soup
Thanks to everyone who emailed and left comments identifying my mystery birds. The robins and cedar waxwings are still hanging around, even after last night's storms. I've discovered that they've finished the hackberries and are now eating our holly berries, so I'm hoping there's enough food for them to stick around a while.
Since I've been using a lot of my spare time bird watching, I've slipped into cooking so many "ridiculously easy" recipes that I've decided to make Ridiculously Easy a permanent feature on the blog. Through the magic of blogging, I've gone back in time to add a tag to many of the recipes that fit into this category, dishes that take just a few minutes or that allow you to dump your ingredients into a pot and let them cook a short time while you're free to do other things. Just click on the tag to see the first few recipes that I've categorized as Ridiculously Easy, or R.E for short.
Today's easy recipe turned out to be so delicious and comforting that I can see it becoming a regular meal at my house. Like my last R.E. recipe, it uses refried beans (though I assure you that not all my ridiculous recipes do!) I know that some people turn their noses up at canned refried beans, and though I agree that freshly made taste better, the canned version is such a great convenience. In this soup, they contribute a wonderful creamy mouth-feel that will make you think the soup is richer than it is. But if you don't like using canned refried beans, you can always do it the old fashioned way: whiz up a cup and a half of pinto beans in your food processor with a little of their liquid and add them straight to the soup. No frying needed!
Smoky Refried Bean Soup
(printer-friendly version)
This soup is so thick it's almost a chili. Use the minimum amounts of chipotle chili powder and hot sauce to make this a mild dish or add more to make it as hot as you dare.
1 large onion, chopped
3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
15 ounces fatfree refried beans
15 ounces black beans, cooked
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 - 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (to taste)
1 teaspoon hot sauce (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
Spray a large, non-stick pot with cooking spray, and sauté the onion until it begins to brown. Add the garlic and bell pepper and cook for one more minute. Add all the remaining ingredients and cook until the flavors blend, 20-30 minutes.
Serving suggestion: Garnish with fresh tomato salsa and serve with baked tortilla chips and a large salad.
Makes 4 large servings. Per serving: 257 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (4% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 895mg Sodium; 14g Fiber. Weight Watchers Core (4 Flex Points).
Since I've been using a lot of my spare time bird watching, I've slipped into cooking so many "ridiculously easy" recipes that I've decided to make Ridiculously Easy a permanent feature on the blog. Through the magic of blogging, I've gone back in time to add a tag to many of the recipes that fit into this category, dishes that take just a few minutes or that allow you to dump your ingredients into a pot and let them cook a short time while you're free to do other things. Just click on the tag to see the first few recipes that I've categorized as Ridiculously Easy, or R.E for short.
Today's easy recipe turned out to be so delicious and comforting that I can see it becoming a regular meal at my house. Like my last R.E. recipe, it uses refried beans (though I assure you that not all my ridiculous recipes do!) I know that some people turn their noses up at canned refried beans, and though I agree that freshly made taste better, the canned version is such a great convenience. In this soup, they contribute a wonderful creamy mouth-feel that will make you think the soup is richer than it is. But if you don't like using canned refried beans, you can always do it the old fashioned way: whiz up a cup and a half of pinto beans in your food processor with a little of their liquid and add them straight to the soup. No frying needed!
Smoky Refried Bean Soup
(printer-friendly version)
This soup is so thick it's almost a chili. Use the minimum amounts of chipotle chili powder and hot sauce to make this a mild dish or add more to make it as hot as you dare.
1 large onion, chopped
3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
15 ounces fatfree refried beans
15 ounces black beans, cooked
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 - 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (to taste)
1 teaspoon hot sauce (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
Spray a large, non-stick pot with cooking spray, and sauté the onion until it begins to brown. Add the garlic and bell pepper and cook for one more minute. Add all the remaining ingredients and cook until the flavors blend, 20-30 minutes.
Serving suggestion: Garnish with fresh tomato salsa and serve with baked tortilla chips and a large salad.
Makes 4 large servings. Per serving: 257 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (4% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 895mg Sodium; 14g Fiber. Weight Watchers Core (4 Flex Points).
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free
Labels: CORE, eat to live, gluten-free, Ridiculously Easy
posted by SusanV at 10:15 AM
41 Comments:
Do you think this would be good as a taco filling if I add in some vegan mince (I love quorn) and less liquid?
Looks good! I think I'll be making this tomorrow.
Any suggestions on an equivalency between canned chipotles in adobo and chipotle chili powder? I could just guess...
What a great idea for a simple dinner!
This looks great, Susan! I adore black bean soup! Do you have suggestions as to using refried [pinto] beans versus refried black beans. I've seen both. And I think I'll used a diced red or yellow pepper for the corn to keep it corn-free.
Here is a hint for anyone going out to buy refried beans... Of the "regular" (i.e. not "organic" or otherwise fancy) brands available, the Rosarita brand fat free green chile and lime seem to have the least amount of added sodium! And they taste pretty good right out of the can. I bet they would work in this recipe! (Plus they make a great fast bean dip or quesadilla with a little Veganrella!)
RS
This looks great! Chris doesn't like chili but maybe I can get him to eat this if it's called soup. I like the ridiculously easiness of it.. I might make my own refried beans though. I'm Mexican so I'd feel shady using canned ones, haha.
By the way your bird pictures look phenomenal! I just got hired at Circuit City in the camera department so I'm concentrating on photography and cameras a lot lately :)
This sounds and looks delicious! I can't wait to try it. You can never go wrong with a hearty soup.
you and i made pretty similar black bean soups!
I love black beans and this sound like another great dish to use them in :-)
I love the idea of ridiculously easy recipes! Refried beans as part of the base for soup sounds really good to me.
I love dipping tortilla chips in a thick soup or chili....that's such an amazing comfort food for me! The soup looks delish.
oh yum! gotta try that.
Sounds great, and I love canned fat-free refried beans! Yes, homemade are better, but there is a lot to be said for canned goods when you are in a rush!
Courtney
Oh Yum! I just made this and it is GOOD. The only thing I changed is I left out the green pepper (I was out) and instead of the paprika, chili powder and hot sauce, I chopped a chipotle in adobo and added it and a spoonful of adobo sauce.
This is a fabulous recipe!
Thanks!
Susan, this soup looks amazing and and the simplicity made me decide to cook up a batch this rainy night. The pot is cooking on the stove at the moment and the house smells wonderful.
Out of curiosity, do you rinse black beans when you open the can? I've always been told to rinse beans, but the black beans seem to have more liquid than other beans.
BTW - The wax wing pictures from your previous post are really beautiful.
Hi Susan!
I'm a regular reader of your blog and am doing the Weight Watchers Core program! I struggle sometimes finding recipes, and love that you mark your recipes with the points or core information. Any chance that you would consider making a "Core Recipe" category? I would love having a veg core category as a resource on your site.
(The other people in my WW meeting seem to think its hard doing core and being veg. It doesn't seem hard, but I do have to think about recipes more. Frankly, my cooking has gotten simpler since doing core!)
Thanks!
Puja, from California, and a big fan of your recipes
This is the first time I hear about somked paprika. i'd like to find it. In France we don't even find the smoke aroma... Just smoked tea and tofu !
Jess--I think that sounds like a great idea.
Kotzebue, I can't give you an exact equivalent, but I think I'd start at 1 teaspoon of minced chipotle, less if you don't like things too spicy.
~M, I've only had this with refried pinto beans; I'm sure that black beans would taste good, too, though personally I prefer the contrast of having the "broth" be made of a different bean, since black beans are added whole to the soup.
Thanks for that tip, R.S.!
Thanks, Tania! Good luck with the soup!
Rachel, I'm so glad you liked the soup. I'm amazed that someone has already tried the recipe.
Jody, I confess that I don't always rinse the black beans. I do drain them, and if I were better about watching my sodium, I definitely would rinse them. I hope the soup tastes as good as it smells!
Puja, that's a great idea to add a Core tag. I'll have to start working on that. I'm sure there are a lot of recipes here that qualify, but I'll have to go back and check any ingredients I'm not sure about.
Virginie, I hope you can find smoked paprika. It's got a wonderful flavor. I have to order it by mail because I haven't found it in stores locally, so I realize that not everyone has access to it. It's becoming more popular, so maybe one day it will be sold everywhere.
Yum--I'm a sucker for anything smoked.
I get my smoked paprika from thespicehouse.com. That "the" is VERY important, or you may get an eyefull.
I made this for the troops last night and it was a hit all around! I'm not so much for the paying attention to amounts, so I ended up too brothy and had to add another can of pureed beans--which was good, b/c I had JUST enough for the 5 of us. Kids are 5, 8, and 11 and two of them tend toward the bean-phobic. I had recently made headway with this by cooking onion, garlic and black beans with a bit of chili powder and then pureeing it as a burrito filling. No visible beans meant universal approval. I suggested that perhaps they it wasn't beans they dislike, but ovals. They don't think I'm as funny as I do.
My week is so busy that this is going to be tonights dinner. thank you so much for your great recipes!
For anyone who has a good McCormicks spice selection in their store they make Smoked Paprika - that's where I found mine (and then packed it and brought it back with me to the UK!)
Puja and anyone else who is interested: I've made a CORE tag and have tagged about 25 recipes as Core. You can find the tag in the left sidebar; later I may make it a section of the recipe index with a page of its own, but at least this is a start.
Hi Susan!
Wow, thanks so much for adding the core tag! That's going to be really helpful, and I'm excited to easily search for meal ideas here.
(As a WW side note, I'm so glad that I switched to the Core plan. Though the flex made eating out very easy, the Core program has me eating healthier and is so much less fuss!)
Thanks again for adding the tags. I appreciate it so much!
Puja
This soups sounds delicious and I'm delighted it's ridiculously easy. I do think I 'll try it with organic pinto beans to decrease the sodium a bit. Thank you for your wonderful site.
Onehealthpro
I made it, I made it! And it was good! I had to leave out the bell pepper cuz I didn't have one. And I was out of veggie stock, too, so I used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and just hand-blenderized half of the can to sit in for the stock. Oh, and I broiled the corn for a bit to get it toasty.
Turns out, about a tsp of pureed chipotle in adobo is just right.
And I may have commented on this before, but I find smoked paprika at TJ Maxx. I know, weird, but the one in my city has a food aisle.
Thanks for the great recipe, Susan!
Yum! So I've been reading this blog for a few months now and I have intended on making most recipes... tonight was my first official attempt. I've very impressed. Loved simple and delicious recipe. I highly recommend!
I made this today for our lunch and my husband (who was home sick) and I loved it! Thank you so much for an easy, healthy, and beyond delicious recipe. Going to look up some more "R.E."s now! ~JennyL
This looks really delicious and easy...for another ridiculously easy recipe try taking a can of black beans and dumping it in with your favorite salsa (we like Trader Joe's Peach Salsa)
I was reluctant to try this, but my husband is a very lazy cook and he likes to make meals in 5 min or less (this can be a point of contention!) However, to his credit, this is a great go to meal when we have no time! :)
The soup was a yum success for my husband and I at lunch today! My only problem is that I couldnt find chipotle chilli powder here in the UK, so when my hubby was in california he had a shopping list of all things I am unable to get across here for your recipes. Unfortunately he bought home chipotle 'stock cubes'.. I put them in the soup before I read the label, and was horrified to see Monosoduium glutimate as well as lots of other nasties lurking there!! I will utilise the tined chillis in adobo sauce that he bought home next time I make this, and ban the cubes to the bin!! Thanx for a gorgeous lunch all the same :0)
Lisa
Wow I'm so making this! I love that you have the "Ridiculously Easy" tag now, those are my kind of recipes!
Susan I need to say THANK YOU! Your soup was my saving grace these past couple weeks. We love it. I wish my photos looked as good as yours, but the soup really tasted great! I hope everyone tries it. I linked your post on mine so everyone has a chance to eat up! :o)
Just wanted to say I gave this a try last night and the family (especially the kids) loved it. Thanks for the easy, fast and kid friendly recipe!
I made this soup this afternoon, and it was quick, simple and absolutely delicious! I used chipotle sauce because that's what I had, and I added two stalks of celery and a carrot to get a few more veggies in. It has a great, spicy flavor and is so good for you--two of my favorite things! Thanks!
I made this today and boy am I glad I doubled the recipe! My son, who is omni, said it was better than the canned meat chili!
The only thing I did different was to use whole chipotle chiles rather than the chili powder.
Thanks for the recipe, I mentioned you and linked you from my blog.
I am making this tomorrow and have one more quick question. I do not have Mexican oregano - only the regular kind. Would you recommend regular oregano or completely omit it or add some frozen cilantro or something else? Thank you so much, Susan!
~M, I would use the regular oregano, but if you like cilantro, you might as well throw in a little of it, too.
Hi Susan!
This is a great soup! I used a green cubanelle pepper instead of a green bell pepper, a bit more broth, a red bell pepper instead of corn, regular oregano, and a chunk of frozen cilantro. I definitely recommend serving with avocado! It was very thick and good! Thanks!
This is delicious!! I made it with fire-roasted tomatoes with green chilies, and left out the hot sauce. I used regular paprika because I did not have the smoked. I have finally found smoked paprika at Super Target! I had looked everywhere for it and was going to buy it online. I am looking forward to making it again - thanks for a great recipe!!
I made this yesterday for my son, who is vegan, and myself, a vegetarian...absolutely yummy. It simmered low and slow for two hours so the veggies were still crunchy. Oh my god - it was so good. He had thirds and I'm having leftovers today. Your blog is brilliant and I'm becoming very excited about cooking vegan from now on. Thank you for sharing your fabulous ideas!!!!
Maybe this is a dumb question, but where is everyone finding their vegan fat-free refried beans? I'm in Los Angeles, so there's a pretty good selection of food and a variety of grocery stores to try, but so far all I can find is either vegan or fat free. Anyone have a suggestion of a brand I could look for?
Thanks!
--Liz
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