Santa Fe Soup

My friend Heather gave me this recipe a few years ago. I don't know where she got it from, so I can't quote any site or anything, but I will say it's not mine...and I will tell you what I did differently.

First off...if you want to make this vegetarian, feel free to put in vegetarian crumbles instead of ground beef. I, personally, am not a fan of ground beef. I like beef, don't get me wrong...but we do not eat beef on a daily basis in this house. I think it's just not good for the body to include beef in the daily diet. I do like to make a winter stuff over winter and I do keep burgers in stock for my husband, but I only occasionally eat beef.

Second, the recipe says to dump all the cans into the put without draining. It was my own choice to drain and rinse the beans. I really don't like the liquid in a bean can...I think it's...yick...Also tonight, I happen to have forgotten the pinto beans...it came out just fine...just not alot of beans. You could play with what beans you use too...use black beans, use different color kidney beans.

Third, if you do not have taco seasoning, no fret...as long as you keep some cumin (at the very least) and Sazon in your pantry (if you don't, you should), you're good. One to two teaspoons of cumin and a packet of sazon (only if you have it) and it should give the same flavor. My friend, Heather, also recommended, you could change up the ranch dip for onion dip.

Finally, as a side note, I had some extra green onions kicking around, so I chopped them up and threw them in. Added a nice touch and some color. This soup is really just a watery chili...but as the nights get colder, if you add some cornbread...it could be a nice comfort food.

Oh and one last note...I cooked the turkey in the soup pot in some olive oil...using my pampered Chef Mix and Chop. Now, I only plug stuff that works...but I think the Mix and chop is awesome when cooking ground beef...it crumbles and helps cook the food nicely. Then after the turkey was done, I just threw the rest of the ingredients in one pot...total dishes dirtied...three...the pot, the mix and chop and the cutting board...ok four...the knife...whatever...

Ingredients

1lbs ground beef (or turkey or veg crumbles) - cooked/crumbled

3 cans diced tomatoes

1 can pinto beans (or black)

1 can kidney beans

1 can whole kernel corn

t packet taco seasoning

1 packet ranch party dip (or onion)

In a medium/large soup pt, combine all ingredients (do not drain any of the cans), heat thoroughly, simmer 20 minutes.