Lately, I’ve been making a real effort to avoid spending a fortune on fancy ingredients at the health food stores. With so much fresh food available so inexpensively at the local market it just didn’t make sense to go back to the kind of spending that we used to do at the Philadelphia Whole Foods. I’ve tried to focus on recipes with simple ingredients and it’s been surprisingly easy to find everything we’ve needed. Our most recent recipe called for dried chilis – definitely no problem finding those in the local market!
We used a slightly modified version of the tortilla soup with pinto beans recipe found on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. Lately I’ve been focused on getting back into shape and running more, so I was looking for something light. We added the pinto beans and spinach to make it more filling. Each serving of the tortilla soup is less than 300 calories, and it’s probably my favorite recipe that we’ve made so far!
Spicy with a little lime juice and fresh avocados. Just perfect.
Tortilla Soup with Pinto Beans
Adding pinto beans makes this more of a main dish soup, but it could be even heartier with more greens and vegetables added.
3 large dried ancho chiles
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (or to taste)
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
3 cups pinto beans, cooked
salt to taste
6 corn tortillas
1 large lime, cut into 6 wedges
1 ripe large avocado, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
4 cups chopped spinach
Toast the chilis one at a time for a few seconds until fragrant. Stem and seed them, tear them into pieces, and put them in a blender along with the tomatoes.
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add a couple drops of olive oil, onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Pour it all into the blender along with the chipotle powder and process until smooth.
Return the pot to medium heat. When hot, add the puree and stir nearly constantly until thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 6 minutes. Add broth, water, oregano, and drained pinto beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375F. Cut each tortilla into 1/4-inch wide strips. Place the strips in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt, if desired. Bake for about 15 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool uncovered until soup is ready.
Add spinach to the soup and season with salt to taste. Cook, stirring, until the greens are wilted, about 2 minutes.
Serve warm with fresh avocado, tortilla chips and lime wedges. Enjoy!
