Exploring New Foods: Recipe I

I've decided that I'm going to try one new or very old (not used in a year or so) recipe each week to add some variety to our normal eating "routines". I really want to change it up and introduce new foods and flavors to our palette.  This week, I'm going to try a soup recipe passed along to me by a friend. I LOVE black bean soup. I had gotten this recipe and also found another online that I wanted to try, but this one had chicken in it and that wins Derek's vote.

Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
--1 pound chicken (I used frozen breast tenderloins)

--1 cup dried black beans (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)

--4 cups chicken broth

--1 cup sliced mushrooms

--1 cup frozen corn

--1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)

--1 1/2 tsp cumin

--1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)

Directions:

• You will need a crock pot – 4qt or larger.
• Soak the black beans in enough water to cover and another 2 inches overnight. In the morning, drain the water and rinse the beans.
•  Add to the crockpot. Put in the chicken, and add the broth and salsa. Pour in the corn and mushrooms, and add the cumin. Stir, but don't disturb the beans---let them stay at the bottom of the pot, closest to the heating element.
• If you are using beans you soaked overnight, canned beans, or pre-cooked beans, you can cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5--similar to normal soup-cooking time.
• If you'd like to thicken the broth, you can use your immersible blender to blend a bit of the beans and chicken. If you don't have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditional blender. Stir the mixture back into the crockpot.
• Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving.

Notes/Changes:

• I soaked the beans overnight
• I didn't add the mushrooms since we don't really eat them
• I used the sour cream as a garnish and didn't mix it into the whole pot

Review:

This was a pretty good soup, and very easy to prepare. It wasn't exactly a "black bean" soup as I had imagined- but it makes sense since it used salsa in it.  It had a nice, taco-esque taste with the chicken and salsa incorporated. I'd make it again.