Black Bean Pineapple Fiesta

I’m excited to share a tasty recipe with everyone–Black Bean Pineapple Fiesta.

I found a recipe for Black Bean Pineapple Soup Stew at Susan’s Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.  {Susan’s blog is a great resource for anyone who is new to plant-strong or Vegan eating.}

Temperatures in Wisconsin finally began to drop a bit last week and I was in search of a warm, hearty dish that would take me through the week.  I used Susan’s recipe as a conceptual starting point and I’ve been enjoying my version for a few days – on its own, served over quinoa or on a baked sweet potato.  The combination of sweet (pineapple), smoky (I used paprika and cumin), and spicy (salsa!) is just delicious.  It’s a colorful dish with so many veggies and flavors and the addition of the salsa verde gave this a little bit of a punch.

My 1-pot dish came together with what I had handy in the kitchen and some personal tastes – the tweaked recipe is below and the original recipe is available here.  I omitted the broth and some of the spices and mine turned out as more of a side-dish than a true stew or soup.  {Susan’s photo is also much nicer – I’m still working on figuring out my new camera.}  

Black Bean Pineapple Fiesta
Ingredients
*1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper (I used about 12 mini sweet peppers — red, yellow, orange)
* 1 clove garlic
*2 cans diced tomatoes (I used Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro)
*1/2 a jar of salsa verde (I used salsa verde with cilantro)
*1 tsp ground cumin
*Generous grating of black pepper
*A good shake of garlic salt
*A shake of smoked paprika
*2 cans of black beans (rinsed)
*2-3 zucchini (yellow or green — or both), chopped
*1, 20oz. can of crushed pineapple (make sure it’s the pineapple in its own juice and not syrup)
*Juice of 1 lime
*1 avocado (optional)

Process
1.  Heat a soup pot and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2.  Add garlic and peppers and saute for about 5 minutes.
3.  Add tomatoes, cumin, pepper, garlic salt, paprika and stir.
4.  Add beans and bring to a boil, then reduce heat until everything is heated and spices are blended.
5.  Add the salsa, zucchini, and pineapple (with the juice), and lime juice — stir and heat through.
6.  Enjoy!

This is very versatile–it can be served over brown rice, quinoa, a baked sweet potato, as a burrito filling, etc.   I add a chopped avocado to this when serving.  And it literally looks like a fiesta in a bowl!

What’s your favorite cold-weather soup or stew?  

And just for fun…here’s a little workout inspiration–everyone needs a workout Buddy!

--Even Labradors like to go to the home gym--