Black Bean Soup With Sweet Potatoes

Recipe from The China Study All-Star Collection Cookbook (I altered it a bit, I use vegetable broth instead of water and I use olive oil instead of water to cook the veggies in)

This soup has an irresistible quality; the flavors are deep and earth with some sweetness from the potatoes. Don't let the number of ingredients intimidate you - they build layers of flavor, but this soup is not at all difficult to make!

Ingredients:

3 cups vegetable broth

1 large onion chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped red and green peppers combined

1 1/4 tsp salt

ground pepper to taste

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, more or less to taste

4 medium - large cloves garlic, minced

3 14 - 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed, divided

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp agave

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups diced sweet potato

Chopped avocado for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium - high heat, add oil, onion, red and green peppers, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, allspice, and crushed red pepper.

2. Let cook for 5 - 7 minutes until onion and peppers start to soften.

3. Add garlic. Cover, decrease heat to medium, and let cook another few minutes to soften garlic.

4. After a few minutes of cooking, add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to combine. Then add 3 1/2 cups beans, 3 cups vegetable broth, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, and agave.

5. Using an immersion blender, puree soup until fairly smooth.

6. Increase heat to bring to boil, add bay leaf and diced sweet potatoes. Once boiling, decrease heat and let simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.

7. Add remaining cup of black beans and extra agave, if desired.

8. Stir through, let simmer for another few minutes, then serve, top with avocado, if desired.

First step.