Crockpot Black Bean Soup

For our meatless meal tonight, we tried another recipe from A Year of Crockpotting for black bean soup. This was so, so good! Kevin and I both loved it. I cut the recipe back a lot and now wish I hadn't so we'd have some leftovers for my lunch tomorrow (I only made enough for dinner tonight - one helping for me, two for Kevin). I didn't puree it very thoroughly, only about four pulses of the immersion blender so that we had a good amount of texture/chunks left. And I didn't chop up the veggies before I added them - I just added them whole. I won't change a thing the next time I make it... well other than making more! This was super easy to throw together - I had it in the crockpot within five minutes, tops. We each stirred in a tablespoon of sour cream to ours and it was DE-lish!

Crockpot Black Bean Soup

3 cans of black beans (I used 2 pints of my organic home-canned black beans)
1 can of Itallian stewed tomatoes (I just used petite diced, about a cup)
2 cups of broth (I put in 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon organic Better than Boullion)
2 T taco sauce (I kept this the same for some spice)
1 1/2 cups chopped vegetables (I used about a cup, the remnants of a frozen mushroom/green bean/pepper/onion medley)

Chop up vegetables with a food processor or blender. (I don't think this is necessary when you're going to use an immersion blender at the end) Empty all cans into the crockpot. Do not rinse the beans or drain the tomatoes. Add broth and taco sauce. Mix with a spoon.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 (mine cooked on low for about 11 hours - it'll thicken the longer it cooks). Soups taste better the longer you cook it.

Before serving, use an immersion blender to soupify the beans and tomatoes. Serve with some shredded parmesan cheese and a dollop of sour cream. (We just used sour cream)