Rainy Day Black Beans 12 & 35

Had to throw a little Dylan play on words with the title there :-X

But get this... I just made a black bean soup so fast and so easy that I've already eaten my share of it and am left wondering what I might've done incorrectly. That was WAY too easy. I'm missing my Mad Mex fixes from the 'burgh, but this recipe brings things home for me in a real big way. It's super rainy, so I wanted a nice hot creamy soup, and I didn't want to leave the apartment again if I can help it.... so using 4-5 things that I already had, I whipped this dish up in 10 minutes flat, if even that.

-1 can organic black beans
-1/2 packet Bearitos "Mexican Rice Seasoning" (I've been WONDERING what to do with this stuff, for like a year or more hahah)
-several pinches of cumin
-several pinches of cayenne pepper
-several twists of the ol' black pepper mill
-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
-1 green onion 'stalk' (optional!)
-1,2,3,4 dollops of thick Greek yogurt to top the dish off!

I just opened the can of beans.... poured the entire can into a pot without draining them. I'm stranded without a blender or food processor...not even a potato masher... so maybe that was a blessing; I just used the bottom of a glass, and I smashed down some of the black beans, giving it a creamier, beanier consistency. Spellcheck don't tell me beanier isn't a word!!! I'm not listening! So the cup is actually much easier to clean up than the whole blender/food processor operation.

From here, I added about 1/4 or 1/3 of the Bearitos Rice Seasoning packet... tasted the results, and it already tasted creamy and good... but I tossed in some cumin, cayenne, and black pepper, and WHAM, it zipped up a notch!

Then I chopped up one green onion stalk, which took all of 45 seconds.... and tossed that into the brew!

Just for kicks (and/or B vitamins & amino acids!) I chucked in 2 TBS of nutritional yeast! It doesn't affect the flavor, for worse OR for better! It just gives you a bit of more nutrients... iron, B vits, amino acids, minerals, etc.....

So the soup was perfect at this point... so I served it up in a cozy little bowl. And Mad Mex always plops a dollop of sour cream on top of theirs when they serve it.... but a slightly healthier variation I decided to try was a dollop of Fage Greek yogurt!! WOWWWW..... not sure how to describe it.... but I think I'm going to go get some more!

Yum, just finished my second bowl.... truly delicious.... easier than easy.... here's some lil pics for reference!

I highly suggest you give it a whirl! Personalize it! Add a jar of salsa instead of seasoning mix if that's what you have!! I didn't have any salsa... and the Muir Glen plain tomato sauces and tomato pastes I have, have citric acid in them..... supposedly not recommended for Une Candida Diet.... I was a little nervous not having the tomato element in the mix, but it turned out PERFECT regardless! WooHoo!!

~D.L.