I Know It’s Not Soup Season…

But I have to share this soup, because it ended up being quite delicious.  Plus, if you live anywhere near me, you’ve also been experiencing this cold fallish weather, and have been in the mood for warming comfort food.  Hopefully the weather will get the memo soon that it is supposed to be summer around here!

Anyway, I have a fridge full of leftovers from a company weekend, and it became my mission to incorporate them all into meals for the week.  The other night I used some leftover chicken and scallions to top a fantastic BBQ chicken pizza, which I think is definitely becoming a favorite for Andy and I.  And last night, for the last crock-pot dance night meal, I decided to make a soup.  AS I rummaged through the fridge I pulled out some cut up veggies, some chicken, some corn and some black beans.  It was the corn and black beans that decided for me that I was going to make a taco soup.

So I started with a tablespoon of bacon grease.  What? You don’t keep bacon grease on hand?  You should! I’ve started keeping a small dish of bacon grease in the fridge, and I use it often when I’m making soups or stews, or something that could use just a hint of flavor.  It only takes a small bit to flavor a whole pot.  I started my soup with bacon grease instead of oil.  To this I added half a Vidalia onion, softened that for a minute, and then added red bell pepper, celery, and carrot.  I let these cook up a bit, and then I added a few cloves of minced garlic and a good handful of chopped cilantro.  As soon as those hit the pot I was rewarded with the beautiful aroma of garlic and cilantro. I stirred that up for a few minutes before adding the last pint I had of home-canned tomatoes.  As that simmered and stewed away, I got out some chicken broth, but before I added that, I was mentally going through the spices I would need to add to this soup to make it taste more like tacos.  I wondered… and sure enough, I had a packet of mild taco seasoning in the pantry, so that went in.  I let it get all stewed up and cooked in the tomato-veggie mixture for a few minutes, and then I added the chicken broth. I brought the whole thing to a boil, then turned it down and added shredded chicken, a can of corn,and a can of black beans.

My soup was done.  The whole thing went into the crock-pot to stay warm while we went to dance, and we were rewarded by a rather delicious soup.  I served it with shredded cheese, dollops of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips.  Or in the kids case, they used the soup like salsa and scooped it up with tortilla chips.  It was great!  Obviously, if you have an aversion to taco seasoning packets you could add cumin and chili powder and extra garlic to a flavor you like, but I really was happy with the burst of flavor that the packet added to the soup.  In fact, I won’t hesitate for even a second before picking up a few more packets to keep on hand for the next soup season, because it really was a great way to add a lot of flavor- with little or no effort.

I’ll work on getting the picture on here later, but in the meantime, here is the recipe.

Taco Soup

1 tablespoon bacon grease (or olive oil)

1/2 Vidalia onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 cup of red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 a pepper)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

16 oz can of whole tomatoes (crush them with your hand before adding to the soup)

1 packet mild taco seasoning

4 cups chicken broth

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drained

2 cups cooked, chopped chicken (or leftover pork or beef)

Directions:

In a large soup pot, melt the bacon grease over medium heat.  Add the onion, and cook for about two minutes, stirring from time to time.  Once the onion is just beginning to soften, add the celery, carrot and bell pepper.   Cook and stir for another five minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft and fragrant.

Add the garlic and cilantro.  Stir and cook for about 2 more minutes, or until bright and fragrant, and then add the tomatoes.

Add the taco seasoning packet.  Stir and bring to a boil, and then add the chicken broth.   Bring the whole pot to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the black beans, corn and chicken, and cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until completely heated through.

Served with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips on the side.

Makes about 8-10 servings.