Supper's Served: Vegetable Tortilla Soup

Vegetable Tortilla Soup

This is a great school night supper.  Before we stopped cooking so much meat at home, I used to make a chicken tortilla soup as a regular weeknight meal. I had a hankering for it last week and decided to try it chock full of veggies in place of the chicken.  It was delicious and turned out more of a stew than a soup due to the amount of tortillas I used- use less for a brothier soup and more for a thick, satisfying stew.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
32 oz vegetable broth
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 yukon gold potato, chopped
1 can pinto beans
1 can Muir Glen fire-roasted diced tomatoes with chiles
2 limes
8-10 soft corn tortillas cut into rectangles
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
cilantro, scallions and hot sauce for topping

Directions:
Add vegetables and broth to a dutch oven or large soup pot, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Add the spices, stir and cover until potatoes are softening- maybe 15 minutes, stirring periodically.  Once potatoes are softening, add the pinto beans, diced tomatoes with chiles, the tortillas and the juice of 1 lime.  Stir and lower heat to med-low and let cook another 15-20 minutes until the tortillas are broken down.  Spoon into bowls and serve each with a lime wedge, chopped cilantro & scallions and your favorite hot sauce for topping.

Free-for-All option: Use shredded rotisserie chicken in place of the zucchini & potato (you could also omit the beans) and top with sour cream or cilantro creme-fraiche at the table.