Salsa Soup

Hello!  Hope you all survived another week.  There are some days when you need to make something that is effortless that yields good results.  My favorite remedy to this weeknight delima is soup.  I made a delicious soup using fresh salsa from a night or two earlier and the results were fantastic.  Even my oldest, veggie-phob ate it.  I was shocked, but happy that he was eating something other than peas for once!

This black bean and corn salsa makes a large batch which is great for gatherings.  We of course ate this as a vegetable side dish the first evening with our main course of Bisquick's Impossibly Easy Taco Pie.  This salsa also works great topped over scrambled eggs or quesadillas for breakfast or brunch.  You could also take the original recipe and add garbanzo beans and feta to make more of a stand alone salad for a light lunch, or spoon some over some fresh baked white fish. --I ran out of salsa too quickly to try the fish idea, but you get my point.  Although you could easily halve this recipe, I liked making one large batch and being able to have the veggies ready for other dishes later in the week.  As a soup, the salsa saves so much prep time because the veggies and most of the seasonings were ready to toss in. 

Here are the are the recipes:

Impossibly Easy Taco Pie

Heather's Cilantro, Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Busy Day Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Here are my adaptations to the Taco Soup recipe:

I sauted 1/2 of a red onion with 1 pound of ground beef, and brown.
Add:  1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning
1 package of Taco Seasoning (I was out of taco seasoning, so substituted with cumin, chili powder and garlic.)
Add: 2 Cups of  Heather's Cilantro Black Bean and Corn Salsa.
Add:  1 additional can of diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
Add:  Newman's Black bean and Corn Brand Salsa, or your favorite variety
Add  1 1/4 approximately of water.

Allow to simmer for approximately an hour or two before serving.  Great with tortilla chips and a cold beer!