Black Bean And Coconut Milk Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small white onion, diced small
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chiles in adobo, minced or 1 -1 1/2 teaspoon TABASCO(R) brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (NOT dried)
2 (15 ounce) cans whole reduced sodium black beans (or equivalent amount of freshly cooked black beans)
1 (15 ounce) can reduced-fat coconut milk
2 1/2 cups water or 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
salt
pepper
Garnishes
lime wedge
diced white onion
fresh cilantro leaves
diced firm tomatoes

Preparation

In a soup pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, cumin and chipotle. Saute, stirring occasionally for approximately 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup water, reducing heat to low, continuing to cook for 12-15 minutes or until onion is softened.
Add the black beans (plus the bean liquid if using canned), coconut milk, and 2 1/2 cups water or stock. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup for 15 minutes.
Scoop out 1 cup of the beans and some liquid; place in a mixing bowl. Puree the 1 cup of beans until smooth then return to the soup pot. Stir to thicken, blending more beans if you wish to desired consistency. (Or you can use a hand held immersion blender and blend the soup that way.).
Adjust seasoning if necessary, adding salt and pepper as needed.
Garnish each serving with lime wedges, diced white onion and cilantro leaves and diced tomatoes.