Have you ever had a coconut milk based black bean soup?

I had not, until I dined at Feast last weekend.

It was amazing.

I went home and immediately jotted down a few notes.

As soon as I had the chance, I experimented and came up with this.

Its got my own twist, with some lip warming spices, chopped sweet potato, and scallions.

After dinner, Baron stood over the pot on the stove and scraped out every last morsel.

I’ll take that as a good sign.

Warming Black Bean Coconut Soup
From Part-TimeHealthNut.com

Serves: 4, Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• One 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can light and unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup thinly chopped celery (1 large stalk)
• 1/2 a medium sweet potato
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. chili powder
• Optional, for added heat- ground chipotle or smoky paprika (start with 1/8 tsp. and add more to taste)

Directions

1. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large pot.  Heat over medium low heat.  Add the onion, garlic, and thinly chopped celery.  Stir frequently and sweat the vegetables until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the cumin, cinnamon, salt, and chili powder and stir to coat.  If you want extra spice, add some ground chipotle or smoky paprika to taste (start off with 1/8 of a tsp.).
3. Drain and rinse the black beans to reduce any added salt and add to the pot.  Add the can of coconut milk.  Stir well.
4. Let simmer on medium low heat for a few minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings.
5. Lightly blend with immersion blender being sure to break up chunks of celery.
6. Prick half a sweet potato with a fork in several places and microwave until fork tender, about 3 minutes.  Chop into ¼ inch square chunks.  Gently stir into soup.
7. Garnish with green onions and serve.
8. If your soup sits on the stove and thickens, thin it out with more non-dairy milk.  I added an additional 1/2 cup while waiting to serve.

Nutrition information: Serving Size: 1 cup, Calories: 248,Carbohydrates: 28.4g, Protein:9.4g, Fat:10.7g, Fiber:10.2 g

Please note: Nutritional information is not guaranteed and will vary based on the ingredients used.