Mexican Soup

Photo: flickr user Meryl CA

Ingredients

4 cups of cheddar cheese (alternatively, cheddar

2 quartz organic/free range chicken broth

1 small bag of frozen corn

1 cup black beans

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon marjoram

2 red bell peppers, diced

1/2 cup of your favorite salsa

1 yellow onion

3/4 cup brown rice

5 tablespoons canola oil

dash of salt & pepper to taste

or go sodium free

Tortilla chips

3 avocado (garnish on top)

dollop of sour cream or yogurt (plain) (I use

Preparation

Add 2 tbsp.canola oil to medium-hi heat stock-pot with chopped bell pepper, corn, oregano, paprika, thyme, marjoram and salt and pepper (if desired). Make sure to scrape the bottom of your pan as you go to ensure best flavors not to burn away (if more oil is needed, add it). After about 5-8 minutes of a watchful saute, add chicken broth. While it is coming to boil prepare brown rice.

Saute with medium-hi heat - chopped onion and 2 tbsp oil until it starts to soften, then add brown rice with 1 more tbsp of oil and garlic (minced). Saute for about 5-10 minutes until the rice has started to brown. Add one cup of heated broth to your rice pan, bring to a rolling boil while cooking down the broth until very little broth is left in the pan. Turn off the heat and add rice mixture to soup. Add black beans and salsa - bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. DONE