Mexican Tortilla Soup with Cumin-Lime Black Bean Quesadillas

I love tortilla soup! Any time I go to a Mexican restauraunt that offers it on their menu, I tend to get at least a cup of it! Boston Market used to have a great one, then the one by my parents closed down. I haven't been to one since, because there are so few, I haven't seen another one recently!! I can never just have a bowl of soup for dinner, it just doesn't fill me up. Unless that soup is Pho. Then all I need is an enormous bowl and I'm set!! For tummy filling purposes, I had to make some sort of sandwich, so this time I marinated some black beans in cumin and lime juice and made it into a quesadilla! Yumm!!

I was a little indecisive and couldn't settle on one picture!!

For that yummy yummy soup:

This recipe takes 25 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes to prep and cook, depending on simmer time.

4 corn tortillas

cooking spray

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, minced (If you like it spicy, leave in the seeds, if not, take them out. I leave them in!)

2 onions, finely chopped

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 pound), cut into bite sized strips

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

4 cups fat free, low sodium chicken stock (If you're going to simmer it for a long time, you can use all or partial water if you want, save some money! However, if you're going to quick simmer it, you need the flavor of the stock.)

1 14-1/2 oz can diced tomatoes

hot sauce

lime wedges

low fat yogurt

shredded pepper jack cheese

1/2 avocado, diced

1 medium tomato, diced

cilantro, chopped

pickled jalapeno slices or 1 fresh jalapeno, sliced into rounds

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a large pot sprayed with cooking spray, cook onions and garlic over medium heat until they start to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken, carrots, bay leaves, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper, and cook until chicken begins to brown and carrots start to soften. Add the chicken stock or water and tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes to an hour (I like long simmered soups, and have the time, so I simmered mine for an hour.).

Meanwhile, cut the tortillas into 1/2 inch strips, and cut the long ones in half. Lay out on a baking sheet in a single layer, and bake for 20 minutes, until crisp.

Remove and discard the bay leaves. Ladel soup into bowls and top with cheese, a dollop of yogurt, tomato, avocado, cilantro, and tortilla chips. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze into soup, hot sauce, and pickled or sliced fresh jalapenos (The only reason you see no pickled jalapeno on mine is because I had none, and used my last jalapeno in the soup, but if I had some, you know they would be in there!)

This recipe serves 6.

For the highly tasty Cumin-Lime Black Bean Quesadillas;

This recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep and make.

juice from 1 lime and 1 teaspoon zest

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
salt
pepper
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 red bell pepper, funely chopped

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

4 scallions, thinly sliced

4 whole wheat fajita sized tortillas

pepper jack cheese, shredded (How cheesy do you like it? Use that much!)

1 avocado, sliced

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

chopped fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, zest and olive oil. Stir in parsley, cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper. Add beans, bell pepper, tomato, and scallions, and toss to distribute dressing evenly.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.

Sprinkle some cheese on one half of each tortilla. Top with the marinated beans, avocado, tomato, bell pepper, and more cheese. Fold the opposite side over to cover the filling. Spray the skillet with cooking spray and grill the quesadillas until the tortilla is crisp and the cheese is melted, flipping once. Cut the quesadilla in whichever way you prefer, and sprinkle with cilantro.

This recipe serves 4.

Enjoy everyone! This was awesome!!

You can also serve this with cornbread! I have a couple of really good cornbread recipes on previous posts!!