Black Bean Soup

Tonight I made that black bean soup I made for New Years at Becky's request. I'm using a recipe by Dave Lieberman from the Food Network Favorites cookbook that I got for Christmas.

I rendered 10 pieces of bacon and then sauteed 2 onions in the fat until just translucent and then sweated 6 pressed cloves of garlic. A minute later I added ~14 oz. of chicken broth, ~14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, 1 Tbsp chili powder, 2 Tbsp ketchup (Heinz, of course), 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, and 4 cans (15.5 oz each) of black beans - drained but not rinsed. I brought that to a boil and then brought it down to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes. Then I stirred in the chopped leaves of 1 bunch of fresh cilantro and 1 1/2 cups of leftover roast chicken (you can leave out the meat or add diced ham or chorizo sausage if desired). Five minutes later I squeezed in the juice of 1/2 lime and salted and peppered it to taste. I put it in the bowl and garnished it with shredded cheese and diced scallions (and a lime slice and tortilla chip for the picture).

Great on a cold winter day.