Once Fall hits, I’m all about the cozy wozy eats. Bring on the comfort food! Do you see, already, how we have such an emotional connection to food? That doesn’t have to be a bad thing either. Food has the innate ability to dictate our mood and once we can recover from abusing it through emotional eating or binge eating, we can find that happy balance of using food as fuel and food for pleasure. Because food, ultimately, is love.

That might’ve been a lot real fast. Let me take it down a notch.

Hi! How are you? ☺ Are you as excited that Fall is here as I am? We had a bit of a late start to Fall since our late Summer decided to make an appearance, well … late!But that didn’t stop me from diving into soup season. Plus, isn’t it said that eating hot things on a hot day can actually cool you down? I’m still trying to seek out the truth in that statement, as the many times I’ve applied that philosophy to eating hot things on a hot day, I’ve just ended up sweating more! If someone can prove me wrong on that, I’d love to hear it.

When deciding what to call this recipe, I had to decide if it was a soup, dip or some sort of chili. It’s so dense and filling, it could really be either! If you choose to put an egg on it like I did (hello, healthy fats and protein!), well you may as well have died and gone to heaven. Even though I top most things in my life with eggs, rather than cherries, I never get sick of the richness and creaminess it brings to a dish.

I remember the days when I used to avoid certain foods out of fear of them making me fat. Eggs was one of them because god forbid I eat the yolk that would drive my cholesterol up the wall (You know this isn’t true right? Check this!)But deprivation of foods, of our innate desires, isn’t the answer. A lifelong practice of dieting isn’t either. When you simply allow yourself to eat what you want – free of your diet mentality – and listen to your body’s needs, it will not lie. For many people, this is scary. There’s this thought that if I allow myself to have any food I want, I won’t be able to trust my body.

I will go off the deep end and eat all the things! I know this to be true because this was the reality for me for 10 years. It wasn’t until I gave myself the green light to eat what I wanted, without fear, shame or guilt, that I was able to trust my body’s instincts to tell me what it needs. I was able to recognize that since that food wasn’t going anywhere (i.e. off-limits while on a diet), I didn’t have to overeat it in one sitting to make the most of it, because it would still be there for me when I wanted it next.

When we can get ourselves to this point, food becomes your friend. But more importantly, you become your friend! Over time, you will start recognizing other ways to satisfy non-physical needs. I love how Geneen Roth, author of Feeding The Hungry Heart, puts this in Feeding The Hungry Heart:

“Just as you wouldn’t think about going to the bathroom when you don’t have to, you won’t think about eating if you are not hungry”

And as it is my intention to guide you on an intuitive eating journey to making friends with food, your body and yourself, I also love to celebrate food by sharing new recipes like this one with you!So if it so happens that this one is making your heart sing today, go for it! Want to turn it into even more of a comforting dish? Pair it with some corn tortilla chips!

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

4 celery stalks, diced
4 carrots, diced
2 cobs of corn (~1-1.5 cups)
2 cans black beans
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 onions, diced
2 tbsp avocado oil
1L organic chicken broth (1 tetrapack)
1 egg (optional)
1 handful corn tortilla chips (optional)
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp sea salt
Black pepper, to taste
Red chili flakes, to taste

Directions

Prepare a large pot on the stove on medium-high heat with a drizzle of avocado oil. Add in the onions and then the garlic. Simmer until fragrant.
Add in carrots and celery until some-what soft (~5-7 minutes) and sprinkle with sea salt. Add in black beans.
Pour in chicken broth, followed by the cumin, chili powder, red chili flakes and pepper. Simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Put ½ of the soup mixture into a blender (~4-6 cups) and “blitz” for a second or two until somewhat blended but not smooth. Add mixture back into pot with soup. At this point, add the corn niblets.
At this point, you can go on and enjoy it or top it with an egg. If you choose to do that, preheat your oven to 375F. Put soup into an oven-safe ramekin and break 1 egg into the middle of it. Place in oven for 25-30 minutes until it’s fully cooked.
Enjoy with corn tortilla chips!

What's your favourite cozy wozy Fall eats?