White Bean and Veggie Taco Soup

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I did! I have had a few technical difficulties with my computer over the last few weeks, so I haven’t been able to post all the recipes that I had planned this month. But we are back in business and I have lots of healthy recipes for the New Year!

I thought I would ease you into the New Year with this mostly healthy taco soup. If you are like most people in America, you ate too much junk food in the weeks building up to Christmas and are ready for a change, but you are still in vacation mode and not quite ready to jump full on into your New Years resolutions of better eating (at least not for a few more days). This soup is loaded with veggies and beans, but is still creamy and decadent thanks to the milk and sour cream. Its creamy and a little bit indulgent, but still packed full of healthy stuff! You could make it healthier by adding even more veggies and using skim milk and light sour cream. Or you could make it even more indulgent and add some cheese and corn chips on top. Mmmmm.

It is a great soup to serve at parties and is easily doubled. Its one of my go-to crowd pleaser recipes. And one of my go-to recipes to freeze and give to friends who are sick or having babies. I freeze it in a gallon freezer bag laid on a cookie sheet so it freezes flat. Just let it thaw enough to get it out of the bag and reheat it in a pot.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Serves 6-8 People

Ingredients:

• 5 c. Veggie broth
• 5 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, diced ( I used half red and half yellow. )
• 2  cans great white northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained (or about 1 cup frozen corn)
• 1/2 can diced tomatoes or 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 (4oz.) can diced green chilies
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• salt and onion powder to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot start boiling the broth. (I usually just use water and veggie bullion.) While its boiling, prep the carrots, celery, and peppers. Add them to the water as soon as they are chopped.

2. While the veggies are cooking, open all the cans and drain and rinse the beans. Add all the canned food to the pot. Let it simmer while you work on the next step.

3. In a separate, smaller pot make a roux. To do this melt the butter over medium heat. Measure out the milk so its ready to pour in and have it close at hand. Once the butter is melted add the flour and whisk quickly until its combined. Turn the heat down to medium low and add a little bit of milk and whisk again. Keep adding a little bit of milk at a time and whisking vigorously after each addition so that lumps don’t form. Don’t add all the milk at once or the flour won’t mix in. Once all the milk is mixed in, cook  for a minute or two longer until it starts to thicken, whisking the whole time.

4. Once it has thickened, whisk it into the main soup pot. Bring the soup to a boil and let it cook for a few more minutes. Turn the heat off and mix in the sour cream. Taste and add more salt and a little bit of onion powder if needed. I use full fat sour cream because I feel like it mixes in best. You can use low fat, it just might have little white flecks of sour cream in the soup. It doesn’t affect the taste, it just doesn’t look quite as pretty.

5. Top with cheese, chips, avocados, Cholula sauce, sour cream, salsa, or anything else that you think sounds good. ( Its pretty amazing with Frito Corn Chips, but I try to keep it on the healthy side, so I only use them on special occasions.)

By Edible Experiments (inspired by my mom’s White Bean Chicken Taco Soup recipe that she has been making for years. I just omitted the chicken, used veggie stock, and added more vegetables.)