The most common complaint I hear about cooking from scratch is that it takes too much time. This is just nonsense, of course. If you really want to cook healthy, you can do it in less time than it takes to go through a drive through. So today, we’re giving the naysayers no excuse. This is a healthy and delicious dinner you can start from scratch at 5:30 and have it prepared, enjoyed, and cleaned up by 6:00 sharp. And for something so quick and easy, the flavors are actually quite well developed.

I say this soup only takes 8 minutes and I stand behind that – take out your phone and time yourself as you make this recipe from start to finish. If it’s not ready in 10 minutes (I get two minutes leeway if you’re slow at chopping), send me the picture on Instagram (@OneIngredientChef) or Twitter (@AndrewOlson) and yell at me.

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients: 2 15 oz cans of black beans

1/4 cup vegetable broth (or water)

1 large roma tomato

2 green onions, sliced

2 tablespoons cilantro

1 clove of garlic 1 lime, juice

Pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 avocado (optional)

Step One (2 min)

Drain both cans of black beans, but do not rinse. Using a fork, loosely mash 2/3 of the beans, reserving about 1/3 cup unmashed. Combine both the whole and mashed beans in a saucepan with 1/4 cup water or vegetable broth and a squeeze of lime juice. Begin warming over medium-high heat. Meanwhile…

Step Two (5 min)

Dice the roma tomato, mince a clove of garlic, slice the green onions, and chop the cilantro. Add all of this to the saucepan (reserving a few green onion slices for garnish). Then, add spices to taste – the combo of cumin, coriander, and cayenne is perfect. If the beans weren’t salted, add a little salt as well. Give the soup a taste and adjust any spices as needed. Let this simmer for a few minutes, allowing the flavors to meld together.

Step Three (1 min)

Pour the soup into serving bowls and top with avocado slices and the reserved green onions. You can serve with a side of avo toast to make everyone happier.

Variation

Before I modified this recipe into a soup, it was originally a bean dip that I created in a pinch… All I had was a can of beans and some spices, so I mashed the beans, added the spices, and ate with tortilla chips. That variation is just as delicious. To make a bean dip, prepare as instructed above, simply omit the vegetable broth to create a thicker consistency. Serve with chips or as a burrito filling.