My Take on the Three Bean Soup

There are a lot of recipes out there for Three Bean Soup and some of them are really good, but not one of them hit my palette the way this one did of my own creation, combining several recipes I already had.

2 cans black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 can white/navy beans
Onion
Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
Cumin
Chili powder
Noodles
1/3 cup of water
Corn starch
Warm water

In a nice cooking pot, soup pot, put 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Put pan on medium heat. Chop up 1/2 to a 1/4 of an onion depending on size and drop into the heating pan. Chop 1-2 cloves of garlic, depending on how much you like the taste of garlic. Cook until tender. Add the beans, including as much of the liquid as you would like and 1/3 cup of water. Raise the heat to medium high. As the beans begin to heat, salt and pepper them and if you think there isn't enough liquid, just add some more, but only in small increments because if you have too much it is very difficult to get the water cooked out of them.

As the beans begin to bubble add cumin to taste and chili powder. The cumin I begin adding in about 1/4 teaspoon increments until I get the flavor I want; and adding the chili powder in about the same amounts. I have never reached a Tablespoon yet of either I don't believe. Stir through thoroughly.

Open your favorite box of noodles and put them in, letting them cook directly in the beans. If the soup is not thick enough for you put 1/2 tsp. corn starch in some warm water, whisk it through good and pour this into the soup. If you don't put it in some warm water first you have a big chance of having some lumps in your soup.

Cooking time, about 30 minutes total. Makes 4-6 servings.

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