When I first wrote this recipe, I called it Black and Orange Soup because I made it for dinner on my children’s first snowy Halloween in Alaska, just before we bundled up and went out trick-or-treating. The colors were appropriate for the occasion, and this filling pot of soup was just exactly what everyone needed before trudging out in the cold for buckets of candy.
If you don’t have access to reindeer sausage, chicken, turkey, or beef smoked sausage are excellent alternatives.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral-flavored oil, such as vegetable oil
- 1 pound reindeer smoked sausage or other smoked sausage, sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 4 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- Juice of half a lime
For Serving
- Sour cream
- Corn chips
- Cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, sliced into wedges
How to Make It
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Cook the smoked sausage until browned. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes, or until tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Toss the sweet potato into the pot and add the chili powder, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the sausage and vegetables are coated with the seasonings.
- Pour in the chicken broth, tomatoes, and black beans. Stir, cover, and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sweet potato is tender.
- Turn off the heat. Add the cilantro and lime juice. Taste for seasoning and add more salt as needed. Serve hot with sour cream, corn chips, and more chopped cilantro, with lime wedges on the side.
