Southwestern Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup

Finally...I make a delicious AND healthy soup! After 14 years of married life and muddling through domestic blissfulness I have created something brothy, rich in flavour, full of veggies, and I must say quite beautiful to look at as well. All the measurements are approximate as I am not a precise cook so here we go...

Get out your trusty kitchen knife and cutting board as there is going to be some chopping.  In a larger capacity slow cooker add 3 small sweet potatoes (the orange ones not yellow) diced.  2   medium onions diced and 3-4 stalks of celery chopped.  Add   just enough water to cover the veggies (I used chicken stock paste to taste) or chicken stock.

Next I added a salsa spice blend (I used Epicure medium heat, about 1.5 tsp) and 1 tsp of cumin.  If you do not have the spice blend I mentioned substitute with a Mexican or Southwestern flavoured spice blend or fresh garlic, paprika (smoky would be best, and onion powder.

I let all this simmer away on low heat for about 3 hours  and went off for a playdate.  After that I added 2 bell peppers diced, 2 cans of black beans, and 1 can of diced tomatoes.  I think next time I will be adding 2 cans of diced tomatoes or 1 large can.  If you can find fire roasted canned tomatoes they would work great in this soup.

After another 3-4 hours on low, voila! You have a veggie laden, fat free, meat free meal.  Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken stock and this would be truly vegetarian.  If you wanted to add meat shredded chicken, chunks or shreds beef and even ground beef would work although I think beef would taste best in this soup rather than chicken.  Fresh squeezed lime juice would be an excellent last minute addition as well.  I garnished with chopped cilantro, fat free Greek yogurt and diced avocado.  Even my husband who does not consider soup to be a meal really enjoyed this.  Delish!

The Recipe

3 smaller sized sweet potatoes (the orange ones), peeled and diced to 1 cm cubes

2 medium onions fine diced

3-4 stalks of celery chopped

Enough water (if adding stock concentrate) or stock (chicken or vegetable) to cover

1-2 tsp of Southwestern or mexican style spice blend (I used lower sodium Epicure Salsa seasoning)

1 tsp of cumin

2 sweet bell peppers diced

1-2 cans of diced tomatoes

2 cans of black beans

Sour cream or Greek yogurt, cilantro, fresh lime juice and avocado for garnish