Black Bean Crockpot Soup

So, the blogging has been a little sporadic lately, my apologies for that. It turns out moving, particularly in a city like New York, is quite the ordeal. Especially moving from a very large apartment to an itty bitty one.

Needless to say, there's still lots to be done, but, amidst the unpacking, we still needed to eat. I was so ready for a home cooked meal... and then found out our stove didn't work. Well, it works, I mean, it's brand new, but, there is no gas to cook with. Turns out, that's a problem.

Our landlord actually had no idea this was going to be an issue, they didn't know the gas line wasn't labeled and didn't have a meter, etc. Apparently the tenants before us were actually the New Yorkers who never once used their stove, so never had gas installed. Anyhow, it's being fixed and hopefully we will be able to cook by this weekend, and in the meantime apparently aren't paying full rent, so that's good.

But, Alex and I could neither afford to eat all our meals out nor wanted to just use the microwave. (I'm sure there's some mighty find cooking that can be done in a microwave, but I don't have skills that reach beyond defrosting meat and reheating leftovers.)

So, crockpot to the rescue! I've actually managed to meet my goal of finding new vegetarian recipes and using my slow cooker all in one shot thanks to not being able to use the stove. This recipe was from a cookbook I've been meaning to use, but never got around to. It was super tasty, easy, just the right amount of spiciness, and incredibly cheap if you're looking for that sort of thing. This goes great with a green salad or some garlic toast.

So without further ado:

South American Black Bean Crockpot Soup

Adapted from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson

Ingredients:
2 onions (on the smaller side) finely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped (I have taken a lead from KNG and stopped peeling my carrots)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 finely chopped jalapeno, seeded and ribbed
1 tsp dried thyme
1 TBS cumin
1 TBS dried oregano
Sea Salt to taste
A few grinds of black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS tomato paste
6 Cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
the juice from 1.5 limes
Topping: Sour cream and cilantro if desired.

Chop all your veggies and add to the crockpot, along with spices, tomato paste, beans, and stock. (The original recipe says you should cook your veggies first in a skillet until tender, but I thought if you're cooking for 10 hours in a crockpot, that was highly unnecessary.) Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Add your lime juice. Puree everything with an immersion blender. Serve with a healthy dollop of sour cream.

YUM!

*Apologies for the terrible photo... I've realized the new kitchen lighting is pretty poor for photos, and didn't really feel up to digging through boxes for my flash.