Roasted Veg & Black Bean Soup

I’ve been making a lot of Black Bean soups this winter, and am trying to perfect it. Here is what I cranked out tonight.

4 cups cooked bean
1c water/veg stock/bean cooking liquid
1t apple cider vinegar
1 sweet potato
1 yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
1 zuchinni
1 ¼ c sweet corn
4 cloves garlic
½ T cumin (more or less to taste, it is quite strong)
1T paprika
few pinches cayenne
salt

In general, I don’t like a lot of beans floating around in my soup, so I puree em all up. As a variation, you could puree some, and leave the rest whole.
I start bean soup by soaking my beans the night before. The next morning, I rinse them off really well, then put them in a big pot (3parts water/1 part beans) and boil for at least 2 hours. They usually have a better texture if you puree them while they’re still hot, rather than wating for them to cool down. Same goes for hummous making..
So, when my beans are getting close to being done, I dice up to rest of my veggies and toss them with oil, salt & pepper, and roast them on a baking sheet in the oven at 425 until they are wrinkly, golden, and delicious. Also, I reserve some corn & just toss it into the pot of soup because I DO like corn chunks J
While they are roasting, I puree my beans & put them into a pot, I add more liquid (there are 3 options listed above) let it simmer, and season with the cumin, salt, cayenne, paprika & vinegar.
One the vegetables are good and roasty, I food process/blend them by pulsing.. that way they are still a bit chunky and not completely smooth, this will add nice texture and volume to a hearty winter soup.
Then I add the veg mix to the beans in the pot, and if I think the flavor needs a little balancing I will add a little more salt or cumin or cayenne. A nice trick for balance is a little vinegar or lemon juice, they really help with soups and sauces.