Friday Recipe: Roasted Vegetable Black Bean Soup

Soups might just be my favorite genre of meals. I almost always make a large pot, even if it's just for me (in which case I eat it for a few days and freeze the rest for another time). This is a great fall recipe that uses the last of those summer tomatoes.


Roasted Vegetable Black Bean Soup
Serves 8-10

2 pounds tomatoes, halved
2 large onions, cut into thin wedges
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
6.5 cups cooked black beans or 4 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
Salt
Pepper
Chili Pepper (optional)
plain nonfat yogurt or sour cream to top the soup (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Combine tomatoes, onion and carrot in roasting pan(s).
3. Add garlic, oil and oregano and stir to coat vegetables.
4. Roast until vegetables are brown and tender, stirring occasionally (about 55 minutes).
5. Remove carrots, chop into smaller slices/cubes, and set aside.
6. Put remaining vegetables, broth and half the beans into a pot. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth [if you don't have an immersion blender, place all the items in a regular blender or food processor and blend, then transfer to the pot].
7. Add remaining beans. Bring soup to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until flavors blend (~ 20 minutes). If the soup is thicker than you desire, add some more broth (or water).
8. Add carrots to soup.
9. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and chili pepper as desired.
10. Serve with yogurt or sour cream as desired.

Notes
*I usually use Trader Joe's organic vegetable broth to make this quickly. You can, of course, make your own vegetable broth ahead of time.

*You don't need a roasting pan for roasting the veggies. I use 2 9x13 baking dishes and it works just fine.

*You can roast additional veggies and add them too; the recipe is flexible like that.

*For those keeping track, the basic recipe is vegan/pareve; only the additional yogurt/sour cream makes it dairy, so it's a great option for vegan meals or a vegetarian option for a meat meal.