Southwestern Bean Soup

Southwestern Bean Soup: All it is are some beans, veggies, vegetable broth, and spices. The combinations of the flavors work so nicely together to give you a fresh, flavorful taste with a kick. Your taste buds will be begging for another bite!

In light of my blog post yesterday about why beans are the greatest (!), there’s no better way to honor that than by sharing with you all, my Southwestern Bean Soup recipe! This is definitely my go-to because it’s super easy, insanely delicious and all of the ingredients are clean and/or organic! Hard to believe once you taste it, but I promise it’s true.

To sum it up, all it is are some beans, veggies, vegetable broth, and spices. The combinations of the flavors work so nicely together to give you a fresh, flavorful taste with a kick. Your taste buds will be begging for another bite!

Since you can never have too much flavor (or too many nutrients for that matter), for a little extra somethin’ somethin’ I thought sprinkling some nutritional yeast on top would do the trick.

Jackpot! It was perfect.

If you’ve never used nutritional yeast in cooking, allow me to give you the low down. I too, have never used nutritional yeast before until about a month ago when a recipe I was trying called for it. Something about the name just totally turned me off to it (without even knowing what it was—shame on me), so I never thought I would be buying it, ever.

So here I am reading this recipe that raves about nutritional yeast and I was like alright, let’s see what the hype is all about. So to the health food store I went, and low and behold I found myself face to face with this mysterious nutritional yeast. The brand was Bragg, which I know and love because of their Apple Cider Vinegar I buy all the time, so this nutritional yeast was already in my good graces. I proceeded to read the label and was pleasantly surprised at how high it was in B vitamins, which isn’t particularly easy to get in a vegan diet so I was already convinced to buy it. Then, that’s when I read: “Its cheese-like flavor”…..hold up. CHEESE?

Sold. What vegan doesn’t miss cheese?! I was skeptical, but excited to say the least. I came home and sprinkled it on a simple bean and rice dish and it’s been love ever since. So what I’m saying is, try it! Especially with this Southwestern Bean Soup; they are magical together.

I developed this recipe at the wonderful Kristina LaRue’s house because she takes beautiful pictures of food, not to mention we have a blast. Oh, and because I leave leftovers for her and her husband to taste test for me. What can I say…I’m biased towards my cooking and who doesn’t love a second opinion?

So all and all I can proudly say I passed the taste test with flying colors (by non-vegans might I add!) and I can also say this recipe is ‘husband approved’!  Although, does it count as ‘husband approved’ if it isn’t my own husband? 😉

I hope you enjoy!

Southwestern Bean Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ cup white onion, chopped
• ¼ cup green onion, chopped
• 1 can (15 oz.) organic corn, no salt added
• 1 can (15 oz.) organic black beans, no salt added
• 1 can (15 oz.) organic pinto beans, no salt added
• 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/8 tsp. paprika
• 1/8 tsp. chili powder
• 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp. organic tomato paste
• 2 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
• Cilantro, for garnish
• Bragg nutritional yeast

Directions

1. Sauté green and white onions on med-low heat for 3-5 minutes.
2. Add corn, beans, jalapeño, and tomatoes.
3. Stir in spices.
4. Add tomato paste.
5. Pour in vegetable broth and stir.
6. Cover and simmer for 15 min, stirring occasionally.
7. Pour in to serving bowls, garnish with cilantro and generously sprinkle with nutritional yeast.

Tara Collingwood

MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N

Tara is a nationally recognized expert and spokesperson on nutrition, fitness, and health promotion and is quoted in a variety of media including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and websites.