as if you needed ANOTHER black bean soup recipe.  i have read and tried so many different ones, and i pieced together all my favorite elements from each one.  here’s what is brewing in pixy’s kitchen this morning!

in a splash of olive oil…

onion, jalapeno, celery, garlic, carrots, and a healthy handful of chopped kale (get the already washed, already chopped, for pete’s sake!!  it’s amazing!)  

add a dollop of better than bouillon, veggie style.

add 2 cans of black beans, use one of the cans to add a can of water.

add a can of chopped tomatoes.  

add the following spices:  cumin, chili powder, a dash of cinnamon, and mole seasoning (optional).

add a couple stems of cilantro ~ meaning, chop up the stalk ends.  they stand up in the soup and really flavor it strongly with cilantro.  i love how it brightens up the kale, too.

dump in a few tablespoons of corn meal.  it’s sooooo goooood.

finish with chopped cilantro and S&P to taste.  i have smoked salt, made by my amazing grillin’ friend, frank.  he smokes sea salt on his grill and it is the BEST flavor.

such health in a pot!  yippee!

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i’d like to add one more element to this soup.  i wasn’t particularly enjoying the texture of the kale in this soup, so i used an emersion blender on it, and wow.  it really brings this soup together.  you don’t have to blend the whole thing ~ just get the kale pieces and some of the beans and it turns into a really nice, smooth texture.