Here's a tasty soup that might work for you. You could probably cook
up the beans yourself or get the industrial size containers. This
recipe doesn't require pureeing or lots of peeling. Of course, you
could always add some carrots if you wanted. It has the advantage of
being something you can test tonight to see if you like it for your
crowd.
This soup is incredibly quick to prepare and doesn't require a lot of
perishables so you can buy most of the ingredients whenever you want
to. For your large crowd, I'd recommend using a food processor for the
onions.
From Everyday Cooking with Dr. Dean Ornish.
Quick Black Bean Soup (serves 4)
1 cup diced onion
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/4 cups vegetable broth
two 15oz cans black beans
one can 15oz diced tomatoes
1 cup diced peeled russet potatoes (I like using sweet potato)
1 tsp dried thyme (lemon thyme is even tastier)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon or to taste, Tabasco sauce
Combine onion, garlic, and 1/4 cup of the broth in a large pot. Bring
to a simmer and cook until the onions are softened, about 5
minutes. Add the rest of the broth, black beans with their juice,
potatoes, tomatoes, thyme, and cumin. Bring to a simmer, cover, and
adjust heat to maintain a simmer. Cook about 25 minutes until the
potatoes are tender. Thin soup if nescessary with a little more
broth. Taste and adjust seasoning. (You may wish to add some salt.
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