Meatles taco soup

It’s a nice fall day  but a little windy. Well ,today I  wanted to make a taco soup again ,but since it  was a last minute decision I didn’t  have any meat ,so I decided to make it meatless. After all I grew up eating meatless beans, because my mom would say that beans have enough protein so there was no need to add meat. My son ,on the other hand, told me that  there is no such thing as meatless taco soup, but I proved him wrong. Love you baby!

I used

1.       1 lb beans 1 onion

2.       1 tsp baking soda(optional)

3.       2-3 tbsp oil

4.       2-3 tbsp taco seasoning

5.       1 cup mixed vegetables

6.       ½  cup corn

7.       ¼ cup tomato paste

8.       Salt to taste

9.       1 cup diced bell peppers

I soaked the beans for a few hours, then I drained them, placed them in a large pot covered them with about 2-3 times their volume of fresh water. Boiled them for about 5-10 min, reduced the heath, added 1 tsp. baking soda. Now be ready to stir so all that foam from the baking soda won’t end up on your stove. Don’t turn your back like I did lol.In the meantime fill another pot with about same amount of water and heat it up .Let beans  cook for another  5 min or so ,then drain ,  add the other water that you have  warmed up, place back on stove ,or if you like, in the slow cooker. Add oil ,finely diced onion, and let it cook for another 30 min to 1 hour ,depending on the beans. I set my slow cooker on low and in about  3 hours they are done ,but this time I cooked them in my cast iron pot. Bad idea when nobody’s home to help you drain :( When beans are almost cooked, add the other vegetables, tomato paste, and taco seasoning. Adjust salt and taco seasoning to taste. Cook for another 15-20 min. 

 

 Serve hot with tortilla chips (and pickles). Delicious! Even my son liked it!