Recipe: Spicy Black Bean Soup with Avocado Sauce

I was planning to post the link to this recipe in one of our Recent Meal posts, only to realise that we deviate from the original recipe a fair bit. We love black beans, Mexican food and anything spicy--and this recipe is definitely spicy. If you find regular chillies a bit too hot, this probably isn't one for you, as it really isn't the same without the scotch bonnet. But unlike a lot of our recipes, this one is pretty quick to make. 

Adapted from Okie Dokie Artichokie.

Serves: 2

Prep. Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Soup

1 red onion, chopped

2 spring onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (preferably red)

2 teaspoons of cumin, ground

2 teaspoons of chilli flakes

2 teaspoons of ancho chilli powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups of cooked black beans

1 cup of vegetable stock

Avocado Sauce

1 avocado, ripe

1/2 cup of fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 lime, juiced

1/2 cup of single cream

A sprinkling of paprika

Salt and pepper, to taste

To Serve

Feta cheese, crumbled

Lime wedges

Fresh coriander

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, fry the onions, garlic, chilli, spices, salt and pepper until the red onion turns soft and translucent.

2. Add the black beans and stir to combine. After 30 seconds, add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil before reducing to a simmer. Cook until the beans are hot.

3. While the soup is simmering, mash up avocado with a fork, and mix with cream, coriander, lime juice, paprika, salt and pepper. If you prefer a completely smooth sauce, you could make it in a food processor, but we prefer our sauce a little chunky.

4. Remove soup from the heat and blend with a hand-held blender until it has the desired texture. We prefer our soup to still have some chunks in it, but you can make it completely smooth if you prefer. If you don't have a hand-held blender, you could transfer the soup to a standing blender.

5. Top each bowl of soup with avocado sauce, crumbled feta cheese and fresh coriander, and serve with hot rolls and lime wedges.