Let me start by saying although my hubby (Chris) and I are not vegetarians we do strive to eat more and more meatless meals. But every year when winter rolls around I crave my favorite meals like pot roast, meatloaf, and stuffed cabbage.

After fighting my weight and diabetes for so many years I recently had gastric bypass surgery. It has drastically changed what I eat and as I add more foods back into my diet I have been on the search for more flavor and less meat.

I enjoy making beans from scratch and it doesn’t get any easier than cooking them up in my crock pot. Here is a recipe I found awhile back that has been sitting on my pinterest site just waiting to be tried.

It comes to us via Lindsey Johnson’s blog cafejohnsonia.com

So delicious and what wonderful aromas

I highly recommend you give this one a try. I did however make a few alterations in mine since we love spices I actually doubled the spice amounts from 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp and added a bit more liquid smoke to taste. I also substituted the paprika for smoked paprika.

Lindsey doe’s recommend that you wait to taste and then add the extra seasoning to taste which is exactly what I did. Also I skipped the section where you puree I was feeling a bit lazy, and I love texture. The Advacado was a perfect topper to the soup I’m not a fan of radishes so I skipped them. Give it a try and tell me what you think. Go Lindsey I’ll be trying some more of your recipes.

Smoky Black Bean Soup

Ingredients: 
6 cups cooked black beans (about 4 regular sized cans, drained)
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 onion, diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 large stalk celery, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
32 oz. undrained whole or diced tomatoes in juice (I used a quart of tomatoes I bottled from my garden)
1 vegetable bouillon cube plus water to make 2 cups (or 2 cups vegetable stock)
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (I used mesquite)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika (not the spicy kind)
salt, to taste
Diced avocado and thinly sliced radishes, for garnish

Instructions: 
In a large pot, heat the oil until shimmering.  Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic.  Cook until softened.  Add the cumin and paprika and cook for a minute or two longer, until fragrant.  Add the black beans, tomatoes, vegetable broth and liquid smoke.  Simmer until thickened.  Remove about 1/3 of the soup and puree the remaining 2/3 using an immersion blender or in batched in a regular blender.  Add the 1/3 back to the pot.  Simmer a little longer and taste.  Adjust seasonings as needed.

Ladle into cups or bowls.  Garnish, if desired.

Makes enough for 4-6 good sized portions.