We are not a fan of vegetables. We try, we really do. In fact, we are even looking for vegetable recipes to blog about to get us excited about making them. But when we start browsing recipes and we find things like dessert pizzas for kids, what chance do vegetables really have? The struggle is real. But even with that temptation of just making treats, we managed to make a kid-friendly black bean soup for dinner.
I am pretty sure that I liked this soup when I was young because I basically ate tortilla chips for dinner. I just scooped up a few bites of soup and I think my Mom felt like it was good enough to pass for a healthy meal. But over the years, I started enjoying the soup more and more to the point where I eat more soup than chips. Well, let’s call it even and not say any more.
Why is this a Kid-Friendly Soup?
No kid wants to see vegetables floating in a bowl and someone tells them that they have to eat it or they do not get dessert. So the solution? Puree them all into tiny pieces so you can not see them! This is our strategy with squash soup also, and it works like a charm.
Preparing the Hide the Vegetables
This black bean soup recipe starts with your basic vegetables all chopped up. The nice thing about this recipe, however, is that you do not need to cut them into tiny little bits to make them edible because they will be pureed in the end anyway.
We like to have all our ingredients ready to add to the pot, so we rinsed our beans and opened the green chilis. We added these after the vegetables had softened a bit.
Okay, so maybe if you have some picky eaters around your house, you might not want them to see this part before you stir it. I mean, the look of those green chilis might scare them.
Okay, so maybe don’t let them see this either. A full leaf in the soup? That is suspicious. I was pretty nervous that I was not going to be able to find it after it was cooked and then we would all be eating crunchy bay leaves. But I successfully dug it out.
Presenting the Kid-Friendly Black Bean Soup
This is a hard sell. I mean, on its own, it just doesn’t look good to a kid. At least this does not look as bad as our chocolate cereal. Or does it?
So we have some suggestions for you to get a picky-eater to try this soup recipe.
Suggestion #1:
What worked for us when we were younger was forgetting the spoon and eating the black bean soup with only tortilla chips.
Suggestion #2:
Cover it with dairy. We find freshly grated cheese goes a long way with picky eaters. Sour cream does not hurt either.
Suggestion #3:
Use our cheese biscuits as bait. From experience, this is a solid strategy as these biscuits will make us eat about anything.
Good luck with eating your vegetables!
Kid-Friendly Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 4 Large Cloves Garlic: Roughly Chopped
- 3/4 Cup Diced Carrots
- 3/4 Cup Diced Celery
- 1 Cup Diced Onion, or about 1 Small Onion
- 2 Cans Black Beans Rinsed and Drained
- 1 3.5-Ounce Can Green Chilies
- 2 Cans Low-sodium Beef Broth
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder: Or Depending On Spice Level
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cumin
- 1/2 Teaspoon Dry Oregano
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Lime
Optional Toppings
- Sour Cream
- Shredded Cheese
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Cheese Biscuits
Instructions
- Place a large stock pot on the stovetop and set to medium-high heat. When the pan is warm, add olive oil. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and sauté 4-5 minutes.
- Add in the black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.
- Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.
- Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf from soup.
- Place soup in a blender. (You could use an immersion blender in place of this step.) Place lid on blender, but remove the stopper in the lid to let heat escape. Place a paper towel over the hole to avoid splatters.
- Puree soup until completely smooth. Squeeze in the juice from one lime and pulse to combine.
- Ladle into bowls and top with desired toppings.
Notes
Adapted from Our Best Bites