Vegetarian tortilla soup turns out to be quite the yummy, nutritious dinner

Last night, Chris and I decided to try a rendition of my Aunt Amie’s tortilla soup. She’s the cook of my family, and always has fantastic recipe suggestions. After an ACL weekend of fried food and ice cream, we thought cooking this healthy, veggie-heavy meal sounded just right.

My Aunt Amie isn’t much of a measurer, so we just sort of guessed on amounts of ingredients, so if you try out this super yummy soup, you may need to adjust them a bit. Also – this amount makes a TON! You could half it easily, but it’s so nice to have lots of leftovers. Anyways, the ingredients include:

-          1 diced yellow onion

-          4 cloves of crushed garlic

-          1 big can of crushed tomatoes

-          2 regular-sized cans of diced tomatoes in sauce

-          3 boxed containers of vegetable broth (16 oz each)

-          6-8 diced carrots

-          1 chopped zucchini

-          1 bunch or bag of spinach

-          1 small bag of frozen sweet corn

-          1 can of black beans

-          1 chopped poblano pepper

-          2 diced jalapenos

-          Ground chili powder

-          Ground hot red pepper or cayenne pepper

-          Ground cumin

-          Salt

-          1 bunch of cilantro

-          ½ diced avocado

-          2 handfuls of tortilla chips

-          2 tidbits of shredded cheese

 

Yummy chili powder!!!

 

I didn’t include amounts of the spices because it really is necessary to measure according to taste. I will say, don’t hold back on the chili powder. It gives great flavor!

This recipe is super easy. Start out by sautéing the onion and garlic until the onions are almost transparent.

Next, begin to heat up the vegetable broth. As it is heating to a boil, add in the cooked onion and garlic, cans of tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, spinach, corn, black beans, poblano pepper, jalapenos, and spices.

Once all of this boils, bring the soup to a simmer for about an hour or so. Remember to stir occasionally and continually check the broth flavor – add more spices accordingly!

Once this scrumptious soup is almost done, stir in the cilantro. By adding it at the end, it freshens up the overall flavor.

Finally, place the avocado, tortilla chips, and cheese at the bottom of a bowl, and pour the soup over. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top if you’d like, and there you go! Enjoy!