Black Bean Soup

Now that it is cold out, it's time...for soups! And slow-cooker recipes.  This satisfies both, and is quick to throw together (then it just cooks for awhile).

Not the most beautiful photo, but I promise it is delicious!

Inspired by recipes in the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.

Serves 6-8 as a main dish

Ingredients:

1 lb dried black beans

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into approximately 1-inch cubes

2 medium onions, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 (or more) serrano peppers, stemmed and diced (I threw the seeds in as well)

1 10-oz can of Rotel (tomatoes + green chilis)

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 T dried oregano

1 T cumin

3/4-1 T chili powder

2 C chicken broth (I used bouillon cubes for this)

1 C water

1 15-oz can black beans (optional; I added because the ratio seemed off to me but it doesn't matter much)

Garnish ideas: cilantro, cheese, sour cream, corn chips

1. Soak black beans overnight in a large pot filled with water.
2. The next morning/around lunchtime:  in a pan on the stove on medium-high heat, brown the pork tenderloin pieces in 1-2 T of canola oil.  Then put the pork in your slow cooker.  Keep the canola oil and juices in the pan, or if there seems to be a lot of fat then drain off about half of it.
3. Cook the onions, garlic, and red pepper in the pork juice/oil over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
4. Dump onion/garlic/pepper and juices into slow cooker Add the black beans that you soaked, as well as the serranos, Rotel, cilantro, spices, broth, water, and extra can of black beans (if desired).
5. Cook on high for 5-6 hours until black beans are tender.  About a half hour before you plan to serve, either take a potato masher to the soup (less to wash this way) or spoon out some of the beans (avoiding pork chunks) into a food processor/blender and blend.  This will give the soup a thicker consistency.
6. Serve- garnish with cilantro, cheese, sour cream, chips, etc.  This would also be good over some rice!