Black Bean & Corn Bisque

This is a delicious pantry soup, meaning you can make it with ingredients that might already be in your pantry.  It’s healthy and filling, and topped with lots of good stuff.  Also, it comes together in less than half an hour and packs a little mini punch.  Yum!

P.S.  I am calling this a bisque, because it sounds so much fancier than soup.  However, according to Wikipedia, bisques have to be made with seafood stock.  Oh well!  No seafood here, but still delicious.

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1/2 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic paste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 15 ounce cans of black beans
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 packet Sazón Adobo seasoning
A few pinches cayenne pepper, to taste
1 cup water
Splash of silver tequila (optional)
3 tablespoons cream or coconut milk
Chopped fresh cilantro and scallions, for serving

Heat the butter or olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and corn, and raise the heat to medium high.  Stir in the garlic paste and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about ten minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the beans along with their liquid.  Add the oregano, cumin, Adobo seasoning, cayenne, and water.  Stir to combine.  Simmer for ten minutes.  Towards the end of the cooking time, stir in the tequila and let it bubble away for another minute or so.

Remove soup from the heat.  Using a slotted spoon, remove about half of the beans and puree them in a food processor until smooth.  Return the puree to the saucepan, add the cream, and stir to combine.

Serve the soup with a generous scoop of corn and onions, and a sprinkling of scallions and cilantro.