Vegetarian Black Bean Soup. I made this as a starter for a dinner I made for friends Daniel & Paul, and of course my Dad. It turned out well, I must confess. Especially as it was one of those, use what you already have kinds of soups.

So this soup was made starting by throwing a couple cans of organic black beans into a pot, chopping up the white ends of some green onions which were left over from recipes calling for only the green tops and adding these. Then in went a heaping teaspoon of vegetarian soup base, and some mushroom liqueur that came from about a pound of mushrooms I had sauteed and reduced for another use. Now for the surprise. In order to bring a little spice to it, I added about a 3/4 teaspoon of shichimi togarashi, a Japanese chili pepper seasoning! I brought this mixture to a boil, then poured it into my VitaMix for a whirl to make it have a smooth texture and blend all the ingredients. I then poured it back into the pot, and let it simmer until I was ready to serve.

At table side, I provided some of that thick and creamy Fage Greek yogurt (0% fat) as a topping to stir in. It made a nice start to the meal that I will describe more of later in the week.