Black Bean & Mushroom Soup by Treverva

Ingredients

1/2 cube vegetable stock, preferably organic 1x tin 400g (14 oz)organic black beans 300g (10.5 oz) mixed white cap and chestnut mushrooms, also preferably organic 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 400ml (1 + 2/3 cup) hot water 2 tbsp olive oil 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced 1 tsp dried thyme 4 slices of sourdough bread, to serve Vegan butter, to serve

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pot. Fry the garlic and onions until they have become translucent, for about five minutes on moderately high heat. Add the dried thyme and mushrooms. Sweat for another five minutes, until they are more or less evenly browned. Pour over the boiled water, drop in the stock cube and beans, and gently simmer for 20 minutes, until the mushrooms have gone soft. Transfer the cooked vegetables and liquid to a blender; pulse till liquid but still “grainy.” (You can also do this with a hand-held blender.) Serve steaming hot with a couple of slices of freshly toasted sourdough bread and a generous slab of vegan butter.