Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

I stumbled upon a version of this recipe a couple years ago and it has become regular fare in our house. I usually make these once a week. They are easy, healthy, cheap, hearty, and really quite good. There is tons of room for variation here. Other than the ratio of liquid to beans, you can change this recipe based on what you like or what you have on hand. For example, I leave the bell peppers out in the winter when bell peppers are shipped from far away and are expensive. It takes about 15 or 20 minutes to put the dish together in the morning, and it should cook for at least 7 hours, but will be fine in the crock pot all day. Dustin and I can eat almost the whole pot when this is all we have for a hearty dinner, but it makes four big bowls, so I suppose that's four servings. If serving four, cornbread on the side would be a nice way to make this a more complete meal. The leftovers are great. This recipe fills my full-size crock pot, so if you have one of those small ones, you'll need to halve it.

Soup Ingredients:
1 Tbs olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 med red bell pepper, chopped (optional)
1 med green bell pepper, chopped (optional)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, chopped (optional, leave it out if you don't like heat, or just don't have one on hand.)
Salt
1 Tbs chipotle flakes (optional, but very good, adds smokiness)
4 tsps ground cumin
2 tsps chili powder (optional)
1 16oz package dry black beans
7 cups hot chicken stock (or broth), vegetable stock, or water, or a mix (stock = more flavor).

Topping options:
fresh lime juice
cilantro
plain yogurt
sour cream
cheddar or jack cheese
slices of jarred jalapenos

1. Sauté all of the vegetables in olive oil with a couple pinches of salt. Once the veggies soften, make a little space in the pan and toast the spices for about 30 seconds, then stir into the vegetables.

2. Place the beans in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with the sautéed vegetables. Top it all with 7 cups hot liquid. If using homemade stock or water, add a half tsp of salt. If you are using store bought stock or broth, it's probably salty enough.

3. Cook on high for at least 7 hours.

4. If you want a thicker soup, you can give it a few buzzes with an immersion blender or put two cups of the soup in a blender, blend, and then add them back to the pot. I usually just eat it as is, with the whole beans.

5. Top as you like and enjoy.