Spicy, Hot, and Damn Good

As we all know, the throes of winter and January blues have descended upon us all, due to this explanation. I grew up in Rochester, NY, where temperatures of 0 and below are pretty common every winter. Unfortunately, this weather every year did nothing to increase my tolerance for it. Even though it is a 'balmy' 25-30 degrees here in New York in comparison to the arctic temperatures present in other parts of the country, simply walking for 10 minutes in this weather makes your toes go numb, your fingers unable to bend and your poor mouth longing for something warm to be promptly placed inside of it. So dear readers, that is where I come to the rescue. No, I won't fly out of the sky with a piping hot bowl of soup to hand to you on the street, but this is pretty close. Prep time excluded (and it's not long), this takes about 30 minutes to have on the table, and will warm up your mouth and body with spice and nutrition.I had been thinking about making a vegan tortilla-esque soup for a while, but since there are no refined flours on the menu for January, this has turned into a lovely Mexican Vegetable Soup. Onwards and upwards!

Mexican Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
1 large red onion,
diced 3 cloves garlic,
minced 2 jalapeno peppers, diced (we left the seeds
in rather than using chili powder or cayenne, but use your judgement)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp coriander
1/2 Tbsp cumin
black pepper to taste
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
7 cups water (2 cans worth)
1 can 15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed
3 ears of corn, or 1.5 cups frozen
8 oz frozen or fresh summer squash, diced into quarters

Directions:
In a large pot, saute onion, garlic, and jalapeno over med-high heat using either water or olive oil. When soft, add in all spices and cook for
another 2 minutes.

Add in tomatoes and 2 cans of water (the easiest way to measure out water and get the extra tomato in the can!), beans, and corn. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes to allow flavors to come together.

If using frozen squash (we received ours from our winter CSA share), thaw in a colander under running water and add to the soup. With the frozen squash, the soup really only needs to cook for another 5-10 minutes or so; just enough to warm everything up to your desired temperature again. If using fresh squash, add to soup and cook until tender-firm, roughly 15 minutes. Remove from heat, taste for seasoning, and enjoy!