Marvelous Spicy Bean and Veggie Soup

Ok, so, it turns out I am a horrendous blogger. That's not entirely true, I've certainly been cooking a lot, and I've certainly been thinking of blogging but due to an enormous amount of school work that suddenly piled up on my head and a mysteriously missing camera, I haven't actually gotten around to writing anything. While the camera is still missing my blog will be tragically devoid of pictures, but I hope you'll trust me when I assure you that the recipes are truly amazing.

First up is a soup recipe. It started out sanely enough, I decided I wanted soup and so I picked up Veganomicon, which has quickly become one of my favorite cookbooks, and decided on a black bean-vegetable soup. The only problem was, the more I looked at the recipe the more I wanted to change it. First I wanted pinto instead of black beans, then I wanted sweet potato instead of bell pepper, and how about some different spices too? Pretty soon my soup looked almost nothing like the original and the only thing left to do was try it. Luckily, the soup actually tasted amazing, slightly spicy with a bit of sweet from the sweet potato and carrot and just a tad creamy from the pinto beans. Overall, marvelous, this is definitely one that I'll be recreating. And now, without further ado, here is the recipe (needless to say, you can change it upto suit your tastes).

Melody's Anything Goes Soup

Olive oil for sautéing

4 cloves garlic minced

2 small onions chopped finely

1 carrot (Sliced 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick)

1 rib celery (Sliced 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick)

1 sweet potato (Cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 tsp thyme

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp salt

2 bay leaves

1 ½ tbsp hot sauce

4-5 cups veggie broth (four will give you more of a stew-like consistency)

1 14oz can tomatoes

1 14oz can pinto beans

1 ear corn

Sauté the garlic for approximately 30 seconds until it begins to sizzle. Add in the Onion and sauté until it becomes soft and almost translucent. Add in the celery, sweet potato, and carrot, sauté until the carrot begins to soften. Add in the spices and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add in the beans, tomatoes, broth, hot sauce, salt and corn. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until the veggies are soft and the flavors have blended.