Do you have a slow cooker? Do you use it? I have a slow cooker, and I love the idea of making something creative and quick in it, but every time I try to think of what to cook in it I get stumped. It seems to only come out of the cupboard when I am cooking chilli. So it's really more of a chilli cooker. Until now! I finally figured out something delcious to cook in my slow cooker and have been making this spicy black bean soup recipe a lot lately. My family has been loving it and it has been saving me a lot of time.
I bet you didn't know that yesterday was Global Pulse Day did you? I know, I know, there is a 'national' day for everything these days. National umbrella day, national look up at the sky day, national no housework day (ok, this one I could REALLY get on board with!). But since I love my pulses, I am totally feeling this Global Pulse Day. So in honour of my beautiful, nutritious, little friends I will be sharing my newest favorite recipe with you! Get ready to have your taste buds sing with love! But first, let's talk about black beans.
Black beans are one of my go-to pulses because they are so nutritionally dense and incredibly filling. Black beans are an excellent complex carbohydrate and also a good protein source. They are also high in fibre which is very important for good digestive health, as fibre helps to sweep the digestive tract and keep things moving. Black beans contain high amounts of iron, calcium, potassium and phosphorus, as well as smaller amounts of B vitamins. If you aren't aware, B vitamins are excellent for stress management, which is important if you are trying to get pregnant.
Do you find that when you eat beans you get gassy? This gas is actually caused by the oligosaccharides inside the beans, which ferments in your intestines. This is why you may get a bit bloated, gassy or even need to burp a lot after eating them. There are ways to combat this discomfort so you can enjoy your beans gas free. One way is to soak your beans with a bit of apple cider vinegar before cooking them to help leach out some of the fermenting properties. It is very important to rinse them thoroughly after you soak them though, to get rid of the water that is full of the fermenting property. Another convenient way is to add kombu (a seaweed) to the water while cooking them. This helps eliminate these properties as well.
For convenience sake, we are using canned beans for this recipe. You are more than welcome to cook your own, and I encourage you to do so (when I have time I like to cook mine in big batches and freeze them so they are on hand whenever I need them). But since I seem to never have enough time to actually do that these days I used canned for this recipe. If you also use canned beans, make sure you rinse them very well, and take a digestive enzyme with your meal if you still find you get intestinal discomfort.
1. Chop the onion, green pepper, pickled jalapeños and garlic. Add them to your slow cooker.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the lime juice.
3. Turn slow cooker on. Temperature and time depends on how your slow cooker works. I cooked mine on high for about 4hrs and then low for another 2hrs.
4. Turn slow cooker off (or set to warm). Using an immersion blender, blend soup until you reach a desired consistency.
5. Stir in lime juice.
6. Serve topped with freshly chopped cilantro, avocado, tortilla chips and a squeeze of lime. Enjoy!
When you make this soup, don't forget to take a picture of it and put it on instagram #bodyfuelnutrition. I love to see everyone's creations!