Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tasty Tuesdays: the 31st post

Well, another weekend has come and gone and we're faced with preparing another week's worth of meals, be it dinners or lunches or both. Meal planning can be a fairly daunting task and if you're packing your lunch, things can get pretty mundane if you've found yourself in the sandwich rut.

Well, I'm here to help. I've said it before and I'll say it again: making a big batch of soup at the beginning of the week makes weeknight meals a snap OR packing your lunch a no-brainer. I really encourage you to try doing this if you haven't already. As an added bonus, several of the soups I make average about $0.60-$0.70/serving. Take that dollar menu!

Today's soup features my beloved legume, the beauteous black bean, and reminds me of the black bean dip from Gloria's. Like the tomato-basil soup from last week, it is ridiculously easy to make and only requires a handful of ingredients.

(Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe...shocker, I know.)

Salsa-Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 T bottled minced garlic
1/2 tsp olive oil
3 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
3 C water
1 jar of salsa (16 ounces)
1 T taco seasoning

1. Saute garlic in olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat.

2. Stir in beans, water, salsa and seasoning.

3. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for a few minutes.

4. Allow soup to cool and then puree (using a blender) in batches.

I suggest topping this soup with crumbled goat cheese and serving it alongside a baked sweet potato. But if you prefer a more traditional route (i.e. you're scared), shredded Monterrey jack would be fine as well. Throw together a quick quesadilla and you have yourself an instant Mexican fiesta. Ole!

Until we meet again, have a Tasty Tuesday!

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