Black Bean and Coconut Milk 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 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
Garnishes
lime wedge
diced white onion
fresh cilantro leaves
diced firm tomato
Directions:

1
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.
2
Add 1/2 cup water, reducing heat to low, continuing to cook for 12-15 minutes or until onion is softened.
3
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.
4
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup for 15 minutes.
5
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.).
6
Adjust seasoning if necessary, adding salt and pepper as needed.
7
Garnish each serving with lime wedges, diced white onion and cilantro leaves and diced tomatoes.

I got this recipe from Food.com  I had coconut milk leftover from another recipe and I wanted to use it up before it went bad.  We had a guest over for dinner and he liked the soup.  The soup does have a bit of a kick due to the chiles.  I used chipotle chiles in adobo.  For garnish I used cilantro.  I served it with bread as and had the soup as the main dish.

Megan-4/5
Jesse-3.5/5
Guest-4/5