Black Bean Soup with Bacon, Crockpot

I’m all about my crockpot and really into soups these days (I try to do one a week). I guess I want our kids to be exposed to more than I was as a child (no offense campbell’s) and learn difference flavours and textures (even if they are fussy right now I’m not giving up).   That’s where our latest soup recipe Black Bean Soup with Bacon, Crockpot comes in.  I love having a big pot of soup for supper in the colder months and some yummy crusty bread/rolls to accompany it.

This month so far we’ve had success with our Pizza Soup, Hamburger Soup and a Minestrone Soup (with napa cabbage). It’s also nice the kids I look after are great eaters and so I can happily experiment more regardless of how our kids eat!

Black Bean Soup with Bacon, Crockpot

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Course: Entree, lunch, Main, Soup

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon chopped
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery finely chopped
• 2 carrots finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp thyme dried
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp oregano dried
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 6 cups chicken stock or approx. 2 tetra packs for a little more
• 2-3 cans - black beans rinsed & drained (I use canned and put some aside to add whole into the soup)
• 1/3 cup lime juice fresh
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Cayenne Pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cook your bacon until crisp. Remove from pan to drain and set aside.
• Drain most of bacon fat leaving a little behind. Add your onions, celery, carrots and cook until soft.
• Drop in garlic, thyme, cumin & cumin seeds, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne if using. Stir for 1 minute. Next add tomato paste, stirring to combine.
• Transfer mixture to crock pot and add bacon, stock and beans. Mix well.
• Cover and cook on Low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
• Before serving stir in lime juice and puree soup in batches. Pour into bowls and add optional garnishes.

Notes

What I love about crockpot recipes is they can be mostly prepared the night before and stored (in crockpot stoneware) in the fridge overnight. The next morning you take out stoneware, put in crockpot base and turn on.
Optional Garnishes can be anything: chopped cilantro, sour cream, salsa, chopped bell peppers or tomatoes, chopped spanish onion or corn, extra black beans. Try different flavour combinations to determine what you enjoy.