Black Bean Soup with Sausage

I got this recipe from All You magazine. Because it's all me, apparently.

2 t. olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans black beans
1 jar salsa
1 c chicken broth
2 hot Italian sausage links (I actually used mild)
1/2 c chopped cilantro (so one of those ingredients I don't spend the money on)
salt and pepper

1. Cook onion and garlic in oil. Or, be me, and just throw dried onion and garlic powder into the crock pot. Because I'm lazy.
2. Combine onion mixture, beans (with liquid), salsa, and chicken broth in slow cooker. Stir well and cook on low for 5 hours. (5 hours? I don't really see the point. Everything so far is already "cooked.")
3. Stir sausage into bean mixture and cook 1 hour longer.
4. Cut sausage into bite size pieces (or do it before they're hot, duh?), and return to slow cooker. Stir in cilantro (or not) and season with salt and pepper.

I served this on brown rice because soup isn't really enough of a meal for us. And, like I always do when I use the rice cooker, I threw in some carrots to steam.

It looked like this:


And was yet another thing the grown-ups loved and the kids wouldn't eat.

Also, see all the unplugged appliances in the background? I'm not just messy, I'm also saving energy!