Taco Soup

     Finally, finally, finally a day that is cool enough for soup!!  Changes in the weather are very exciting for me.  Because that means I get to start changing up the ideas for dinner.  I think my favorite time of the year for cooking are the cooler months.  I love being able to be in my kitchen and just start creating and not worry about heating up the house too much :).  I really enjoy cooking things that take time and thought.  I like trying new things out.  I like learning what works and what doesn't.  And so, tonight was a "let's try this" kind of night.

     It all started with a pound of hamburger I took out this morning to thaw.  I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do with it by lunch time.  It's been a wonderfully cool day and what better for that then a nice hot bowl of soup?  Taco soup to be exact.  And you know what's great about soup?  The fact that you can pretty much throw anything into it.  

     After I finished eating lunch I put probably about 3/4 cup of dried black beans in my slow cooker along with 6 cups or so of water and a lot of salt.  Set it on high and let her go.  (I've decided to start buying dried black beans because they are less expensive and easy to make.  Four hours in a slow cooker on high or about 30 minutes or so in a pressure cooker).

     When I got home at the end of the day I melted about 2 tablespoons of butter in a good sized soup pot, started browning the hamburger seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder.  I added in one medium sized yellow onion chopped up.  After the meat and onion started to cook into each other I drained the beans and added them along with a drained can of corn, about 2 tablespoons of sliced jalapenos from a jar (I chopped them up really fine hand cranked food processor), about a cup of salsa (medium), and a box of chicken stock (4 cups).  I did also add in one bay leaf, cause it's not soup without a bay leaf :).  Covered it and let it come up to a boil and then turned it down.  It cooked for about 15 minutes before I tasted it.  I added a bit more salt and let continue to simmering, covered.

     

     As the soup was simmering away, I sliced up some corn tortillas into strips, sprayed some oil on them and seasoned with salt and baked them at 400 degrees until crispy (keep an eye on those puppies, they burn quick!)  

     When the tortilla strips were done I served up the soup with some shredded pepper jack cheese, a dollup of sour cream, and the tortillas strips.  

     Danny was a happy husband :)

     The spiciness can be adjusted any way you like.  You can substitute the jalapenos for Ortega chilies and use a mild salsa if you would like it less spicy or add more jalapenos and spicier salsa if you like a lot of kick.  It's an easy soup to make and inexpensive.  I didn't have to make any special trips to the store.  And as it cooked, the starches from the corn and beans thickened up the liquid perfectly.  I didn't have to add anything to thicken it.

     I hope you try it out and try other ideas you come up with.  Don't be afraid!  Have fun in the kitchen!  Learn!  Laugh!  Eat!

     Happy cooking!!