Black Bean Soup

One challenging thing about living at Fort Rucker is that we are a solid 40 minutes away from the closest Panera. We try to make it there on the weekends, but this black bean soup recipe is great for any time we don't want to drive all the way there. The soup tastes just like Panera's black bean soup, if not better. Before we started paleo I served this soup with artisan bread. Now I avoid the bread, and I like to serve it with a spinach salad. This soup is very filling, and is a great meatless meal for Fridays during lent.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 celery stalks, chopped

¼ large red bell pepper, chopped

1 ½ cups chicken broth

2 (15 oz) cans black beans, undrained

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

½ lemon, juice of (about 1 Tbsp)

1 ½ Tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

In a pot, combine onion, garlic, celery, red pepper, and chicken broth; simmer for 10 minutes. Add half a can of beans, salt, and cumin; cook for 5 min. Puree soup. Add rest of beans. Combine cornstarch with 2 Tbsp cold water and stir to dissolve. Add lemon and cornstarch to soup and cook until thickened.

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