(with a nod to Trader Joe’s)

Hearty Bean, Corn and Tomato Soup

In this post I will demonstrate that vegan food need not be endlessly time consuming chopping and grating, nor does one need to run all over town for specialty hippie stores. One can use pre-prepared foods and STILL be vegan. The recipe relies heavily on the freezer stocked food from the Trader, as we call Trader Joe’s. This is even easier than fast food because you don’t have to leave the house.

1 large onion
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 T olive oil
1 t salt
dash of pepper
bay leaf
2 can Trader Joe’s Cuban Style Black Beans
2 28 oz. can of organic diced tomatoes (any brand)
1 bag of Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn
cilantro

Chop and saute the onions, carrots and celery in the olive oil with the salt, bay leaf and pepper. (This is a miripoix which is the basis for almost any soup – it can be left out for simplicity but it enriches the final product and brings the recipe across the line into “home-cooking.”) Then add the beans and tomatoes, simmer for 10 minutes, add the corn – simmer another 10 minutes. Top with cilantro and serve. This feeds a family of 5 with some left over for the next day. I often prepare this for after school snack when everyone comes in tired and hungry. It is not sensitive to arrival times and can continue to simmer as they straggle in from different activities. All three of my sisters – Cynthia, Valerie and Lydia – make this soup – one of them taught it to my mother who passed it on to me.