Tortilla Soup with Black Beans

Tortilla soup with black beans.  Sounds amazing to me.  A Mexican, tomato-based soup, chock full of black beans and corn, with crushed tortilla chips, and lime juice giving it a little zing.  To make it sound even better, it's Martha Stewart's recipe, and it was under her "quick soup" category.  After a long and painful meeting for an hour and a half after school, making a quick soup for dinner was something that sounded perfect.

Ad now, this soup is one big controversy in my house.  We cannot seem to agree on whether it is great and delicious, or "the worst thing ever made" (yeah that is a real quote).  I guess the only way you will find out is the make this soup for yourself.  Let's see the players on both sides of this debate:

In group 1, the people who find it amazing: me (shocking, right?), Kenzie, Cathleen (Kenz brought her some at work), and Mark (who requested seconds today!).  In group 2?  Well, just my mom.  But she is so vocal about her hatred for this soup that she can comprise her own group.  She literally has said that it is the worst thing I ever made.  Some of her reasons are: too much corn, no chicken, tomatoes cut too large, tortilla chips got stuck in her teeth.  The rest of us completely disagree, but again, the only way to know is to try this out yourself!  I for one will certainly be making it again.  The lime juice really makes the soup bright, and the crunchy texture contrast of the tortilla chips is great and kind of fun.  The beans, corn and tomatoes give a nice meatless soup lots of heartiness.  And Mark ate two bowls of it!  So please ignore my hater mother and give this tortilla soup a try :)  It is really easy and tasty. 

I will add this: the soup is more flavorful on the second day, but the tortilla chips have turned to total mush, which frankly I like.  The first night, Kenzie and I also added just a little shredded cheddar cheese to our bowls and it brought the soup to a whole new level!  I also decided to double the recipe but perhaps should not have done this before checking that I had everything I needed.  I ended up having to use a very weird mixtur of things, including kidney beans, tomato sauce, and stewed tomatoes, but it all worked out okay in the end - if you ask anyone but my mom, that is :)

Recipe:

tortilla soup with black
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes in juice

2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 cup crushed tortilla chips, plus more for serving (optional)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving

 

Instructions:

 

1)  In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium. Cook garlic and chili powder until fragrant, about 1 minute.

 

2)  Add tomatoes (with juice), beans, broth, corn, and 1 cup water; season with salt and pepper.

 

3) Bring soup to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Add tortilla chips; cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice, and season with salt and pepper. Serve soup with lime wedges and, if desired, more chips.