Dad's Black Bean Soup

My dad has been making this soup for years. It's easy to prepare and really delicious I began using turkey Italian sausage to make it a little healthier, regular Italian sausage was in the original. It has been in my private recipe box for a while, I decided to post when my decidedly anti-bean 9 year old ate two bowls!

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 12  ounces  Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
• 1 1⁄2 cups onions, chopped
• 10  garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans
• 14 1⁄2 ounces beef broth
•  kosher  salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1  dash  ground red pepper
• 1⁄4 cup light sour cream
• 2 (14 1/2ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained
• 2  tablespoons fresh oregano, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Add 1-2 TBSP oil to pan. Brown sausage with onions and garlic. (If you do not have fresh oregano, add 1-2 tsp dried oregano in this step.).
2. Stir in black beans (undrained), broth and crushed fennel seed. ( I crush seeds with a mortar and pestle or in the spice grinder.).
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.
4. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
5. Stir in tomatoes and oregano and heat thoroughly.
6. Combine red pepper and sour cream.
7. Top each bowl with a dollop of spiced sour cream.
8. Notes- I use low fat/ low sodium beef broth. Fire roasted diced tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes work wonderfully. I add the tomatoes at the end because I find they break down too much otherwise, if you like your tomatoes more broken down add them with the beans.