Ellie Krieger's Easy Red Bean Tortilla Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

When I look for cheap and healthy food, Ellie Krieger's recipes are always a great place to start. This is the second soup I am trying for her newest cookbook, Whole in One. I love tortilla soup and beans and tomatoes are two inexpensive items always in my pantry. This soup is a good way to use up old tortilla chips or you can bake up your own, using stale tortillas.

I kept this recipe mostly as written, subbing in low-sodium no-chicken broth and fire-roasted tomatoes and a chipotle seasoning blend I like. I also added chopped avocado. Because, well... chopped avocado. ;-)

Red Bean Tortilla Soup 
Slightly Adapted from Whole in One by Ellie Krieger
(Makes 4 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & finely chopped, or to taste
1 1/2 tsps chili powder
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 (15-oz) cans low-sodium pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 (14.5 oz) can no-salt added diced tomatoes
1 1 /2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it has softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapenos, and chili powder and cook for 1 minute more. Add the broth, beans, tomatoes with their juices, corn, salt, and black pepper and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. 

To serve, place 1/4 cup of the tortilla chips in each of four bowls. Ladle the soup into the bowls and serve, topped with additional chips and a sprinkling of cilantro. 

The soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for 3 months. 

Nutritional Info: Serving Size 2 1/4 cups: Per serving: Calories 470; Total Fat 15g (Sat 2 g, Mono Fat 7 g Poly Fat 4 g); Protein 17 g;  Carb 70 g; Fiber 14 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 830 mg; Total Sugar 10 g; (Added Sugar 0 g).

Notes/Results: A good simple tortilla soup always hits the spot and this one certainly does. The slightly spicy (you can make it less or more depending on your tastes) lime-spiked broth with the beans, corn, tomatoes and crunchy chips is satisfying and clears out the sinus--good for us recovering from colds. It goes together quickly and easily and uses up pantry ingredients. Next time I'll add (or replace the corn with) hominy because it's my favorite but I will happily make this easy soup again.

Linking up at I Heart Cooking Clubs where the theme is Cheap & Healthy!

Let's check the Souper Sundays kitchen this week and see who is here:

Claudia of Honey From Rock shared Pistachio Dusted Cream of Cauliflower Soup inspired by a recently read mystery novel. She says,“What especially caught my fancy though, was a Pistachio dusted Cream of Cauliflower soup.  Perfect for our chilly, constantly raining weather.  I swear, the rain hasn't let up here for more than a half hour at a time over the past two weeks. But this soup hit all the stops and I would definitely make it again.  Particularly loved the freshly roasted and ground white pepper in it, and the dusting of toasted pistachios on top.”

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor brought Carnitas Sandwiches she made saying, "Using up the leftover Carnitas I made last week was easy with buns. We had pulled pork sandwiches, Carnitas style. I also prepared homemade mac and cheese. Extra sharp cheese, please."

And Tina also shared this Thai Chicken Noodle Soup saying, "Also last week we tried a new (to us) Thai restaurant in north side Tallahassee. I can tell you we will be back. It was the best Pad Thai Doug ever had and my Chicken Noodle bowl was soupy and delicious."

Kim of Stirring the Pot shared one of her favorites, Mark Bittman's Curried Lentil and Potato Soup saying, "This soup is soul-soothing. I find it so very delicious and comforting. It's thick and hearty, almost creamy, with incredible flavor. I absolutely adore it and have no problems eating the whole batch myself. In fact, it makes for a very tasty lunch at work and keeps very well in the fridge."

Thanks to Claudia, Tina, and Kim for joining me this week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!