Tortilla Soup

Ahhh, it's been awhile ;-)

I made, what I like to call Soul Soup yesterday. (Veggie) Tortilla Soup is so easy, and it always tastes SO GOOD. Perfect for a rainy day- perfect when you need to spice your tastes up.

I start by mincing about 3-4 cloves of garlic- you can always use more!
1 med. onion, chopped
1-2 bell peppers, chopped
a couple of hot peppers to spice it up- or, like yesterday when I had none, I used a good teaspoon and a half of cayenne. I always add more, to taste.
Saute this for a few minutes.
I sliced up a medium tomato and added it to the saute, then I added one can of tomato sauce....or two.
Then added 2-3 cans of black beans, and one can of corn.
To add a smokey, spicy taste- I added a 1 1/2 teaspoon of chipotles in adobo sauce.
This isn't necessary- but some recipes say to add chicken stock- I added maybe a cup of it. I've made it without....your choice!
And finally, I chopped about a 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro.
I let the soup simmer for awhile....then topped it with drop of sour cream, a little pepper jack cheese and some homemade corn tortilla chips.
You can also add avocado slices to this too. ;-)