According to my husband, this is the best soup in my repertoire. That's a BIG call because I make a LOT of soups! And I only make soups that taste delicious. But he has a point. Not only does this soup taste amazing, it is rich in fibre and a rainbow of healthy plant foods (and their powerful phytonutrients!).

The hero ingredient that really makes this dish sing is the generous splash of freshly squeezed lime juice that is added just before serving. Trust me, it makes it GOOOOOOOOOD!

This recipe makes a LOT of soup. It makes awesome leftovers to take to work for lunch the next day. Don't forget to take a sliced lime to squeeze in just before you eat it!

Ingredients

1 large red or yellow onion, diced
1 green capsicum (bell pepper), diced
1 red capsicum (bell pepper), diced
Kernels of 2 ears of corn
2 cans black beans, rinsed (or 800g black beans that you have soaked overnight and cooked yourself*)
700g tomato passata (or two cans diced tomatoes, or 8 fresh tomatoes diced)
4 cups stock or water**
2 Jalapeno peppers, de-seeded and diced
1 large mild red chilli diced
1-2 avocados, peeled and diced
Juice of 6 limes (allow 1 lime per bowl of soup)
1 generous handful coriander (cilantro) leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place diced onion, red and green capsicum in a large pot with olive oil and saute until translucent
Add in tomato passata (or diced tomatoes), black beans, water/stock, corn kernels and chillis and simmer for 20 minutes. Add cumin, salt and pepper to taste. Add in more chilli of you like. Simmer for a further 5-10 minutes. Taste and add more chilli, cumin, salt or pepper if you need to.

To serve: ladle soup into large bowls, add in a generous splash of lime juice (equivalent to 1-2 limes), half a diced avocado and a generous sprinkle of coriander (cilantro).

Enjoy!

* If you are soaking and cooking your black beans from scratch, well firstly GO YOU!!!! Just remember to soak them overnight or for at least 7 hours, and when you cook them make sure you bring them to the boil for at least 10 minutes before reducing the heat and simmering. Dark beans like red kidney beans and black beans contain a chemical called phytohaemoglutinin which can cause tummy upsets. Boiling for 10 minutes draws it out of the beans and into the water.

** You can use whatever flavour stock you like, or just use water! I often use water instead of stock and my soups turn out fine. You just need to taste your soup a little more and make sure you get the seasoning right.