Turkey Black Bean Soup

It has been snowing, freezing, and miserable for two weeks straight here in Northern Idaho. To warm us up a bit, I asked Zac to make his amazing Turkey Black Bean Soup. He made this for me last year and I loved it! He got the recipe from his mother, so I give her the credit. I changed it just a bit by adding potatoes to make it a little more hearty, cut out some of the oil, and used ground turkey instead of cubed turkey breast ( just because it's easier) but basically it's a Curtis family recipe. It's delicious and keeping me warm right now.

Turkey Black Bean Soup

Ingredients
1 pkg (19 oz) of lean ground turkey breast
2 c. blackbeans or 1 can
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried oregano leaves, crumbled
1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
2 tbsp cumin
1/4 cup tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water

Process:

1) In a skillet, brown ground turkey.
2) In a skillet, heat oil over medium for 30 seconds.  Add onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring until softened, about 7 minutes.  Add garlic, oregano, peppercorns, lime zest, and cumin, and cook, stirring, for one minute.  Add tomato paste and stir well.  Transfer to slow cooker.  Stir in chicken broth, water, and beans.  Season to taste with salt.
3) Add cooked turkey and stir well.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.
4) Add in 2 tsp ancho chili powder, dissolved in 2 tbsp lime juice.  Add in 1 finely chopped jalapeno.
5) Cook on high for 20 minutes
6) Enjoy!