Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup with Avocado-Mango Salad: A Healthy, Tasty Duo for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

Although I have had Ellie Krieger's newest cookbook "So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week" for several months, I hadn't gotten around to cooking from it yet and was just living vicariously through all of the delicious recipes my friends Kim and Kat were making. Finally, I cracked it open and started tabbing recipes, starting with this pairing of Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup with Avocado-Mango Salad. A colorful duo that makes a great light but filling vegetarian lunch.

The recipes can be found in "So Easy" or online here.

Krieger says, "This robust, satisfying soup is a savory meal in a bowl layered with flavor from roasted tomatoes, onion, and garlic. A quick puree at the end takes it from rustic to refined."


Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup

"So Easy" by Ellie Krieger

(Makes 4 Servings)
7 medium tomatoes, quartered
1 large onion, cut into large pieces
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 (15.5 ounce) cans black beans (preferably low sodium), drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Toss the tomatoes, onion and garlic with the oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl, then transfer to baking sheet. Roast until the garlic cloves have softened, the edges of the onions are browned, and the tomatoes have collapsed, 35-40 minutes, stirring once after the first 20 minutes.

Transfer the roasted vegetable mixture to a 4-quart saucepan. Add the broth, beans, cumin, chili powder and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and blend until smooth with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender. Stir in the hot sauce. Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Kreiger says, "This tropical salad is the cool, creamy, fruity counterpart to the warm, hearty, spicy soup. The contrast makes each dish taste even more delightful."

Avocado-Mango Salad

"So Easy" by Ellie Krieger

(Makes 4 Servings)

4 large Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves
1 medium avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 medium mango, pitted, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced into rounds
4 lime wedges
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Place a lettuce leaf on each serving plate. Arrange 4-5 slices each of avocado and mango, alternating them in a row, into each lettuce cup. Top each with a few onion rounds, and then squeeze lime wedge over each salad. Season with salt and pepper and serve.


Per Serving: 2 cups soup and salad w/ 8-10 mango & avocado slices: 510 cal, Total Fat: 19g, Sat Fat: 4g, Mono Fat: 11g, Poly Fat: 2g, Protein: 22g, Carb: 66g, Fiber: 17g, Cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 877 mg
Notes/Results: An excellent couple of recipes--full of good flavor, nice texture and bright colors. The soup has good layers of flavors from the roasted tomatoes, garlic and onions (which BTW makes the house smell incredible as it is roasting). I was going to leave some of the soup in chunks but ended up pureeing the whole batch, but I found it still thick and satisfying. I did up the amounts of the garlic, cumin, chili because I like big flavors. Once the veggies are roasted, the soup goes together quickly. I didn't have sour cream so I topped my soup with a scoop of non-fat Greek yogurt, but for the bowl I had the next day, I threw some crumbled cotija cheese on top and it was delicious that way too

The salad was my favorite of the two recipes--the combo of the creamy avocado, sweet mango and slightly-sharp red onion with the tangy lime worked really well. I used some small Manoa lettuce leaves instead of large leaves and they added a nice sweetness too. The small leaves would make great mini salad cups to serve this recipe as an appetizer (or pupu) for a party too. The whole meal--two cups of the soup with topping and a serving of the salad with 8-10 slices of mango and avocado comes in at about 510 calories--and it is filling and delicious. Ellie Krieger knows how to make healthy food taste good--I would make both recipes again.

It's nice and full in the Souper Sunday kitchen this week--let's see who is here:

My friend girlichef is a Tortilla Soup lover and is on a quest to try all the variations she can find so we can expect to see a lot of tortilla soup from her, like this quick version from Everyday Food. She says, "Slurp. Monch. I was seriously pleased with this one! It was simple. It was full of flavor. And if made with DOUBLE the chipotle...it is one hell of a hangover cure! Seriously, a bowl of this with double the chipotle and a bottle of cold cerveza the morning after would have you kickin' in no time! I added the extra cuz we like it hot around here."

Debbi from Debbi Does Dinner...Healthy and Low Calorie made a unique slow-cooker White Bean and Apple Chili this week and says, "This was a different chili for me. It almost didn't even seem like chili. But it was. The apple really does disappear, I wouldn't know it was apple if I hadn't put it in there myself. It was quite thick, which is how I like chili or soup to be. It was also pretty mild, so if you like a kick, add some more spices or hot sauce. I thought it was very good just the way it was."

Tigerfish from Tezcape--An Escape To Food has a healthy Fish Soup to share this week. She says, "鲜 (pronounced sian/xian) is the Chinese character/word meaning fresh; and when it comes to describing taste/flavor, often means "unami" or "savoriness". This is a yummy-unami fish soup that me and my friend made in the US. The best fish to use for this soup needs to be oily fish (drink the omega-3!) such as yellow croaker fish (黄鱼) or hairtail (带鱼, belt fish). Best to use whole fish. Not only that, the fish needs to be rather "hardy" under prolonged heat - so a more expensive fish such as salmon, cod, etc. may not work."

Spencer from Live2EatEat2Live Blog was inspired by his recent trip to China and says, "Inspired by eating all that shoyu pork in China, I made this variation of Shoyu Pork over the weekend. This version has dried bamboo shoots, dried shiitake mushrooms, green onions, and turnips. I cut back on the pork to make the dish more “healthy." The Cat said that compared to the dishes she ate in Shanghai, this one was close enough. The Mouse will keep trying."

Healthy doesn't have to be boring as Kait from Pots & Plots proves with her Tuscan Vegetable Soup. Kait says, "I'm getting back on the diet wagon…again. Consequently, I’m craving veggies. Since I’ve been under the weather, I have some fresh veggies that were on their way out, so soup was the ideal solution. Along with 3/4ths of a pound of Italian turkey sausage that was hanging out in the freezer (left over from calzones or something, I think), I made a variation of my Tuscan potato soup, swapping out the potatoes for zucchini for a nice, light, flavorful lunch that goes great with grilled cheese."

Christine from Kits Chow finally made Indonesian Oxtail Soup (Sop Buntut), her husband's favorite and says, "I don't know why I balked at making oxtail soup. After all, I could find a recipe easily in one of my cookery books or online. I think it was the fear of not meeting his expectations. Too stressful. I didn't want to watch anxiously while he tasted it and wait anxiously for his verdict. I didn't want to hear, "good, but not quite like ... I didn't ask for his verdict. After all, comparisons are so odious, aren't they? He had Sop Buntut every day until he finished the potful of soup so it must have been quite good."

Reeni from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice made a favorite restaurant soup this week. She says, "This is a recipe for a thick and creamy Potato Cream Cheese, Bacon and Chive Soup. Cubed potatoes are simmered in broth with sauteed onion and thyme until tender then milk, bacon, chives, cream cheese and Parmesan cheese are mixed in. It's another Panera knock-off and one of my favorites. Just like the Broccoli Cheddar Soup knock-off this one is thicker than Panera's but with many of the same distinguishing flavors. And it's another super quick and easy soup that's rich, hearty, filling and extremely comforting for a rainy May day."

Zibi from Fresh Slowcooking is back this week with a hearty, healthy recipe. She says that her Curried Lentil Soup is "an easy nutritious vegetarian soup that can be prepared in minutes. The carrots, green onions and spinach provide a tonne of vitamins while the lentils supply protein and iron. A little curry paste adds some zing! This soup makes a great lunch or light dinner."

Kim from Stirring the Pot made Mark Bittman's Chive Salad to accompany some Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork and says, "This chive salad went perfectly with the pork and after eyeballing it in my copy of Kitchen Express, I was very happy to finally try it. Chives are probably my favorite herb and they really shine in this simple salad. A super duper light dressing is made from equal parts soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, water, a touch of sesame oil and pinch of sugar. It is a light and flavorful salad that would be a great side dish to any Asian-inspired meal."

Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies made a hearty steak and fries meal courtesy of Michael Symon and accompanied it with this bright and healthy salad. She says, "Of course a gorgeous meal needs a gorgeous salad, I made a colourful Snow Pea and Roasted Grape Tomato Salad to brighten up our dinner. This is a crunchy, healthy, and simple salad that is delicious cold or room temperature."

Some incredible soups and a couple of tasty salads this week. Mahalo to everyone who participated. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich you would like to share just click on the Souper Sundays logo on the side bar for all of the details.

Have a great week!