A lunch date & soup!

This has been a crazy, crazy week. I'm super thankful to have people in my life like Carolyn who I can have an awesome lunch date with and just relax and catch up.

We decided to meet up at Lamplighter mainly for the outdoor seating as I had this little guy with me....

The weather ended up a bit chilly and the food was alright but that chai! Yum. So, so, so good. It was a regular sized soy chai extra spice (just means they put ginger in it) with cinnamon on top.

I ended up ordering the Twin Oaks soy chorizo, havarti, avocado, and tomato egg sandwich. Like I said before, the food was alright but if you're going to check out Lamplighter don't miss out on their coffee/tea.

I feel like I'm totally jipping this blog. I know it's about food and I'm clearly staying updated on what I'm eating but I haven't had time to cook or bake myself. SO here is a really great black bean soup recipe I've had for awhile. Today it's rainy and cold in Richmond and this is the perfect meal.

Black Bean Soup (Vegan)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic dried black beans 
• Filtered water
• 1 cup onions (I use red)
• 1 cup carrots
• 1/4 cup corn
• A few red potatoes
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1/2 cup leeks
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• Cilantro
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1-2 tbsp organic olive oil

Using a colander, rinse the beans and make sure there aren't any unusable pieced. Put the beans in a large saucepan and cover with filtered water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 1 hour. Drain beans and rinse.

Return to the saucepan and cover with filtered water and cook another 4 to 5 hours, until tender, adding more water as necessary.

Once beans are tender, stir in the vegetables. Cook until vegetables and are tender. Mix in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.