Chicken and veggie tortilla soup

My sister in law called last week to ask if The Nephew could come spend the night on Saturday. Of course! Our plans included making chicken veggie tortilla soup and chilling. I've made chicken tortilla soup a million ways, but I was trying a new recipe this time. This one came from Beth and her healthy food blog V02 Maxxed. (She's pretty much my bloggy idol with the athleticism and SoCal lifestyle I could only dream of having.)

They launched a little Burnout Paradise on the PS3 while I started the soup.

I added some stuff to the original recipe (black beans) and left a few things out (green peppers and corn). I intended to add corn, but the can in the pantry apparently met with some botchulism back in 2006. After a few minutes, I hear, "can I help?" Sure thing kid.

Don't cut yourself...
...or burn yourself...
...weeeee! Magic Bullet!

I cut and boiled while he ran off with my camera.

The husband provided the sound track for the night...

...while I continued to Martha Stewart around the kitchen.

When the cooking was finally done, I scooped the soup into bowls and topped with cheese and tortilla chips.

Although the pizza in the fridge was much more appealing to the kid. (Which was fine. The soup ended up being quite spicy after all the chilies and hot enchilada sauce. Plus, who doesn't love pizza?)

The remainder of the night was filled with Kung Fu Panda and general adorableness on the couch. (The Nephew thinks I'm cool, but he thinks The Husband is A W E S O M E.)

Overall, I thought the soup was great! A+. Very healthy and hearty and made for plenty of great leftovers. (Plus, it incorporated several of the beans and veggies I vowed to eat as my New Year's resolution.) It was a bit spicy, but that could be controlled with milder ingredients along the way.

On the slight downside, and perhaps it was all the extra "help" I got, it took a fair amount of time to put it all together. Definitely not a quick Tuesday night meal, but I certainly plan to make it again on chilly Saturday night. You should too. You won't be disappointed.