Recipe: Santa Fe Soup

This is a great recipe that my mother makes in the winter.  It is spicy, full of vegetables, and makes a large amount (the leftovers of which are wonderful frozen.  It can also be made with a variety of different proteins, or none at all.  I used a rotisserie chicken, but that could be substituted for 3-4 cooked and shredded chicken breasts, 1-2lbs of cooked and drained ground beef, or even cooked and drained stew meat.  If making it without meat, you might consider adding another can or two of beans to the mix.

The rest of the ingredients pretty much include canned items (and optional chicken stock) making this an affordable, and pantry clearing soup.  Other substitutions you could play with are the beans.  You need two cans and can really use any combo of black, kidney, or white.  In the end, this will make around 8-10 servings.  At the end of the post you can see a picture of how much it makes to give you an idea.  The canned veggies are all the standard sizes, so the 10-14.5 ounce varieties.

You will need:
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 cans Rotel Original tomatoes and green chilies (use your preferred spice level, original will give the soup a good kick)
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can white hominy, drained
1 can shoe-peg corn, drained
2-3 cans water/stock
1 pack taco seasoning
1 pack ranch dressing mix

Alright, this basically could not get any easier.  In a large pot, add all ingredients, stir to combine, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  The Rotel should give it enough kick and the taco/ranch mixes should give it the right level of salt.  If you are concerned with sodium intake you can always use a homemade version of these spices and then adjust the salt to taste.

Toppings can include cheese, sour cream, cilantro, or even some avocado.  As you can see...I had one of the above in my fridge.

And here is the whole pot so you can see what you'll be dealing with and the size of the pot needed to hold the soup during cooking.