Black Bean Soup

I modified, combined, and customized the top 5 black bean soup recipes on this site, because of the major modifications and because it was so good, I thought I'd post here for my reference. Maybe someone else would like this too?

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1  medium green pepper, chopped
• 1  medium  red pepper, chopped
• 2  small onions, chopped
• 5  large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1  jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1  serrano pepper, chopped
• 2  stalks celery, chopped
• 2  carrots, chopped
• 1⁄2  fresh lime, juice only for garnish
• 3 -4  cups  chicken stock
• 3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2  teaspoons chili powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  mesquite powder (specialty spice purchase)
• 4  tablespoons  chopped fresh cilantro (to garnish)
• 3  slices smoked bacon (to garnish, thick slices)
• 7  chicken andouille sausages

Directions

1. Saute Bacon in a soup pot to release fat and crisp bacon. Remove bacon drain on paper towel. Leave in fat if only a Tbl or two. Remove excess grease.
2. Saute andouille sausage to release fat and crisp. Remove from pot and drain on paper towel. Remove all but 1 - 2 Tbl grease.
3. Sweat (on low saute) all veggies in pot for about 15 minutes.
4. Add back in sausage, drained and rinsed black beans, tomatoes, broth and spices.
5. Boil, then reduce to simmer about an hour -- till flavors meld.
6. Puree part (leave some chunks) of the pot using an immersion blender or a regular blender.
7. Mix back in crisped bacon.
8. Serve with lime juice, cilantro and a dash of sour cream if you like.