Quick Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
8 cups canned beef broth
30 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed (2 cans)
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
½ tsp salt, or to taste

Instructions:
Pour oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook until onion begins to become translucent being careful not to burn the garlic.  Next stir in carrots, celery, and broth.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat.  Cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 30 minutes.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Let simmer for 15 minutes until heated through.  Garnish each serving with two tablespoons of fat-free sour cream or fat-free salsa, if desired.

Yields about 1½ cups per serving.

Special Information:
Two tablespoons of fat-free sour cream won't add any POINTSPlus values to an individual serving of this soup but it does add lots of flavor.  However, if you have two or more servings with sour cream, you must add 1 POINTSPlus for every 4 tablespoons you use.  Also, you can use 2 tablespoons of shredded 2% milk cheddar cheese on each serving in place of or in addition to the fat-free sour cream.  Remember to increase the POINTSPlus value by 1 for each 2 tablespoons of cheese you use.