Italian Black Bean Soup

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  I really didn’t do anything to celebrate except relax. This weekend we hit 80F in Seattle, it was just gorgeous!

As usual Sunday was my cooking day, and I made this delicious Italian Black Bean Soup.  I know I am crazy but I still love my soups during hot days, and the spicier the better.

This recipe is part of the monthly Secret Recipe Club “assignment!” Every month you get a name of a blog and you need to choose ANY recipe from that blog and then blog about that recipe by a date. It’s a secret because the blog owner does not know you are doing this until the reveal date.

My secret blog this month was This Chick Cooks, which is written by Katie.  I am so glad I found Katie’s blog, because I LOVE it.  She has the same belief in food as I do.  Organic, non processed, None GMO and toxic free.  Some people think it is crazy, but I am totally with her.  If one thinks the FDA is protecting you from toxic food think again.  Do you own research on things, just because it is available doesn’t mean it is good for you or toxic free.

As I found Katie blog I could not stop reading, because she writes about so many things I believe in.  I haven’t taken my blog there, for many reasons, but that doesn’t mean I don’t eat or cook like that myself.  I let the reader choose what type of brand of ingredient or substitutions they want to eat.  Maybe I will add a little tidbit here and there, but I believe everyone should be able to choose the type of food they want to cook.  But my pantry is 99% organic, and I try to limit the chemicals in the house, that includes toys, cleaning supplies, plastics and cosmetics too.  The list can get pretty long. But the best resource for anyone wanting to do their own research is The Environmental Working Group.  If there was only one site that you should use this would be it.

And while I am at it – if you haven’t read this NY Times article, “Think Those Chemicals Have Been Tested.” please read this.  It is pretty scary and makes you think twice what you bring home.

Now back to the Italian Black Bean Soup, just delicious, filling, and healthy dinner.

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Italian Black Bean Soup

Yield: 4-6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 lbs of hot or sweet Italian sausage and option is also to use meatballs
1 medium onion diced
2 celery stalks chopped
2 carrots chopped
4 slices of pancetta chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 2/3 cup (1 can/16 oz) cooked Great Northern beans
1 2/3 cup (1 can/16 oz) black beans
1 2/3 cups (1 can/16 oz) of diced tomatoes and their juices
4 cups of chicken stock
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp of paprika

2 tbsp of olive oil/coconut oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop all the vegetables and sauté them in a pot with the olive or coconut oil and the panchetta. You should sauté them about 5-10 minutes, at least until the onion is translucent.
Add the sausage/meatballs to the vegetables. Then add the spices and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. After that add the chicken stock and beans and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.

Adapted from: This Chick Cooks

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