Mexican Taco Soup

It’s funny how you suddenly feel like eating a certain dish. Spring has suddenly hit, but I just really fancied some soup. I didn’t really feel like a warming wintery root veg based concoction, or one that was totally summery. Difficult!

So spurred on by a half eaten pack of tortilla chips, here is my resulting Mexican bean soup. It managed to tick all the boxes, being quite light and refreshing with the lime and coriander; but also hearty and warming with the beans and spice.

I would say the topping of crushed up tortilla chips, fresh coriander and an extra squeeze of lime is absolutely essential to bring a basic mexican bean soup into the realms of deliciousness. A classic ‘meal in a bowl’ type dish.

Mexican Taco Soup (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan)

serves 4

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Splash of wine or water
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes or 1 small chilli, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tin mixed beans, drained
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin vegetable stock
• 1/2 tin of sweetcorn, or 1 cob shaved of its kernals
• juice of 1/4 lime

To garnish:

• Fresh coriander
• Crushed tortilla chips
• squeeze of fresh lime

– Saute the onions and peppers in the oil until soft and just starting to turn golden.

– Add the garlic and chill and cook until fragrant.

– Add the other spices and cook out for a minute or two.

– Pour in the splash of wine to deglaze the pan. Once the wine and reduced to almost nothing, stir in the tomato puree and again cook for a couple of minutes to get rid of any raw flavour.

– Pour in the beans, tinned tomatoes and stock. Season and cook for 10-15 minutes.

– Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add the sweetcorn and lime juice. Cook for another 5 minutes.

– Serve garnished with crushed tortilla chips, fresh coriander and an extra squeeze of lime.