You will need:
- 3 bell peppers (colors of your choice)
- 1 small red onion
- 1 can of diced tomatoes (no salt added)
- 1 can of chick peas (reduced sodium)
- 1 can of black beans (reduced sodium)
- Garlic powder
- Ground pepper
- Chili Powder
- Turmeric
- Cumin
- Shredded or sprinkled cheese (optional)
Feeling bloated after Thanksgiving? Get yourself feeling healthy again with this delicious and healthy tomato and black bean soup. My Aunty Kathy is the inspiration for this soup. I made a twist on her soup that uses different vegetables—she makes it with cabbage, onions, and carrots. That’s the best thing about this soup. You can tailor it to your own preferences using different vegetables and protein choices, but keeping the diced tomatoes as the base of the soup. If you aren’t a fan of beans, you can add chicken or another lean meat. This could also be made into a chili, using ground meat.
Start off by chopping up the bell peppers and onions. Toss them into a large pot, heat on high, and add in the can of diced tomatoes. Next, add in water to get the desired consistency of the soup. Keep in mind that the mixture will get more watery as it cooks, so add in a little less water than you think you should.
Next, add in your favorite spices. My favorite spices for this soup are ground pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and turmeric. I love spicy food, so I add in a lot of spices. If you are not a spice-lover, you might want to just stick to ground pepper and garlic powder. However, I feel that the combination of these spices is what makes the soup so delicious and flavorful.
Once the soup in the pot comes to a boil, turn the heat on medium/low and allow it to simmer. Now, you are going to prep the beans. Grab a strainer and rinse the beans separately. Rinsing not only cleans the beans, but also rinses off excess sodium. Sodium can cause a lot of bloating and is already found in most foods, so it is not necessary to add in any more. As you can see in the picture below, this recipe makes a whole big tub of soup that will last you the week. After a week of this soup, your Thanksgiving food-baby should be returning to normal—and might even leave your stomach flatter than before!
Important note: don’t add the beans directly into the large pot of soup! Place them in separate containers because it will allow you to portion control. Beans are extremely healthy for you, but they must be portioned out. The correct portion of beans is typically 1/2 cup. Since I am using both black beans and garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), I use 1/4 cup of each bean. Add the portioned beans into a bowl with a serving of soup. For an extra bit of tastiness, add a small sprinkle of cheese!
Bon Appétit!
girl in the city 