The days are still warm outside, but there is a definite chill in the air when evening hits. A bowl of fresh, hot soup is just the thing to help warm things up. I received some beautiful looking tomatoes from our local CSA and I decided to roast them to bring out their best flavour. The heat helps to caramelize the sugars in the tomatoes which would be perfect in soup. A couple cloves of garlic and some jalapenos are added for a spicy kick. My peppers didn't turn out to be all that hot (and I included the seeds as well), so I threw into the soup pot some of my favorite habanero hot sauce just to make things sweat a bit. But taste your peppers first as you don't want to end up with a nasty hot surprise!
Spicy Roasted Tomato & Black Bean Soup1 lb tomatoes, cut in half or in wedges or thickly sliced
4 cloves garlic, cut in half
2 jalapeno peppers
2 T olive oil
a few springs of fresh thyme
a small handful of fresh basil leaves
salt & pepper
3 c vegetable broth
1 large stalk of celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 can of black beans, drained
salt & pepper & hot sauce to taste
1 lime
1. On a cookie sheet, lay out tomatoes, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and fresh herbs. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees until tomatoes are soft and caramelized.
2. Add roasted tomatoes and their juices into a large pot, along with the diced onions and celery and sautee over med-high heat for a few minutes. Add in the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered for about 30 minutes.
3. Use an immersion blender to quickly blend up about half the soup. I like it half chunky and half smooth, but blend (or not) to your own preference. Add in black beans and simmer away for another 15 minutes. Taste and add salt, pepper and hot sauce if needed. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime and use the remaining lime to squeeze into individual bowls. Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips.
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