Cream of Black Bean Soup, Radish Scallion Tapanade

Hearty black bean soup with carrots, green peppers, celery and dried herbs topped with a cooling cream cheese mixture of radish and scallions.

Cream of Black Bean Soup
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, small dice
1 carrot, small dice
1 celery stalk, small dice
salt and pepper
1 green pepper, small dice
1 scallion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup no-chicken vegetable broth
2-15oz cans black beans (only one can drained and rinsed)

Preheat a dutch oven or large soup pot with oil and saute the onions, carrots and celery over medium-high heat. Season with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook for 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the green pepper, scallion and garlic and saute 10 minutes more. Add basil, rosemary and oregano and toss to combine. Deglaze the bottom of the pan with the vegetable stock, scraping up all the browned bits. Add one can of beans with juices and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Transfer to a blender or use an immersion blender to puree soup to a chunky consistency.
Bring back to the heat and add the remaining can of drained and rinsed beans. Warm through and season to taste.

Radish Scallion Tapanade
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
8 radishes, roughly chopped
2 scallions, roughly chopped
2 tbl vegan cream cheese
1/2 tsp sea salt

Saute the radishes and scallions in a small pan with oil over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes until softened but not brown. Transfer to a food processor and pulse to a chunky consistency. Add the cream cheese and salt and pulse a few more times into a thick cream. Serve on top of soup.