Black Bean Chicken Soup

I was digging through a bunch of saved recipes last week, attempting to weed out ones I haven't tried yet, when  I stumbled across this soup recipe.  I had some chicken and stock I had just made the other night on hand, so I decided to try it.

I don't recall where I found this recipe, although I suspect someone gave it to me based on how I had filed it.  If you're the person who gave it to me - thank you!  I am generally not a big soup person, but I liked this recipe a lot.  It wasn't very liquidy, which suited me fine.  The sausage gave it some zing, and the whole thing made for a very satisfying meal.  I cut down on the carrots (not everyone in this house loves them), had to skimp on the black beans and shredded the chicken (since it was already cooked), but I generally stuck to the recipe.  We both really liked it, and the recipe has made it into my binder of tried-and-true recipes. 

The original recipe states it's for six main course servings.  Goodness - we got five servings out of a half recipe.

BLACK BEAN CHICKEN SOUP

2 Tbls olive oil
1 lb chorizo or spicy sausage, casings removed
2 cups chopped peeled carrots
1½ cups chopped onion
1½ cups chopped celery
2 bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbls chopped fresh thyme
5 cups chicken broth
3 15oz cans black beans, drained
1 lb chicken breast, cut into ¾" cubes

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and next 4 ingredients. Saute until sausage is cooked through, breaking up sausage with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme, saute 2 minutes. Add broth; bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer 20 minutes. Add beans and chicken; simmer until chicken is just cooked through (about 10 minutes). Discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!