Spicy Black Bean Soup

Again, going back to my affinity for spicy foods, I found a recipe for spicy black bean soup in a magazine. Adjusting the spiciness to meet my tastes and throwing in some beer for added flavor, this turned out absolutely fantastic. If you don’t like things super spicy, you may want to only use one jalapeño pepper and, perhaps, just use plain diced tomatoes instead of the ones with chiles in them.

1 large onion, diced
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
2 Tbsp. oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 - 15-oz. cans black beans
1 - 10-oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
1 - 4-oz. can chopped green chiles
1 - 12-oz. bottle porter beer
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/3 cup red cooking wine or sherry
2 Tbsp. cilantro
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Mexican cheese

In a Dutch oven, sauté the onion, red pepper and jalapeño peppers in oil until tender. Add the garlic and cook two minutes longer. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, chiles, beer and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes. Add cooking wine and cilantro. Cook 10 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Place half of the soup in a blender; cover and process until pureed. Return to the pot and heat through. Top each serving with sour cream and cheese.