HANNAH BRYAN concocts a warming soup with a kick

I ADAPTED this recipe from the vegetarian website meatfreemondays.com

I swapped some ingredients for items I had in the cupboard and the result was a delicious, filling soup with a bit of a kick thanks to the added chilli.

This isn’t a soup to make if you’re really hungry and wanting a quick fix though as the black beans need to be soaked for between eight to 12 hours before cooking. But after that the soup is quick and easy to make. I topped my soup with a little bit of rocket but it would be great served with some crusty bread or some sundried tomato and olive bread.

Spicy black bean soup

You will need:

1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
Black pepper to season
1 tin chopped tomatoes
300g black beans (soaked for between eight to 12 hours)
2 vegetable sock cubes
450ml warm water
1 green chilli, finely chopped

Method:

After soaking the black beans overnight you can begin making the soup.

Once you’ve chopped the onion, garlic and chilli, start by heating a little olive oil in to a deep pan.

Make sure that you use a pan which is going to be big enough to hold the soup once the stock has been added.

Add the onions, garlic and cumin to the pan and simmer until the garlic and onions begin to soften. Then, add the remaining ingredients and simmer gradually for about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time.

The soup will be quite chunky but if you prefer a smoother soup just use a hand blender (or a potato masher if you don’t have a hand blender) to finish off the soup.