Appetite for Reduction: Redemption (Tortilla Soup)

I haven't been cooking vegan deliciousness very much lately.  I was super busy with the end of the year.  Between working a lot of overtime, traveling, visiting with family, and making non-vegan food, I didn't have much of a chance to cook out of my new book, Appetite for Reduction.

I was also struggling with some motivation...the last few things I made from the book turned out horribly.  That all changed this weekend.  I had a weekend at home, with limited responsibilities.  So, I got down to some good old fashioned vegan cooking!

First on the menu was a soup for Sunday supper.  I decided to make Tortilla Soup, complete with crushed tortilla chips. 

You start off with onions, jalapenos, and green bell pepper.  The recipe called for a poblano pepper, which I adore but forgot to purchase (and I forgot pinto beans too!).  Luckily my freezer was there to save the day with some frozen green bell pepper.  I wonder if I grew this pepper in my garden this summer?  Hard to tell.

After that had a chance to cook up a little, I mixed in some spices like cumin, minced garlic, and some spicy hot red chili flakes.  These were optional, but I think they are a necessity for this recipe.  I don't think it would have been as good without it.

My favorite part of this recipe was adding in a can of whole peeled tomatoes.  The directions told you to break them up with your fingers.  I did, and it was super fun.  Here is a picture of everything above, plus some finger crushed tomatoes and some crushed baked tortilla chips.

Here is a picture of my kitchen, with most of my pantry supplies out on the counter top.  It got pretty crowded in there for a minute!  I was also trying to make some vegan cornbread, but it was gross and ended up in the can.  The corn bread recipe was from VegWeb.

I also have an island that juts out from the right of that space.  I typically reserve that for laptop land (One to view recipes on and one for Skype), but occasionally I will use it for cooking space.  Particularly if someone is helping.  :)  It's perfect for someone to sit at and chop.

Enough stalling!  The soup is ready.  Yum.  More baked tortilla chips crumbled on top.

Cornbread in trash quickly after this photo was taken.  This recipe made 6 servings at 270 calories each.  Not bad!  I got it into some tupperware to take to work for lunches this week or to eat for dinner.

This was a good quality Tortilla Soup recipe and I will definitely be making it again. 

Changes from original recipe:
-I didn't have pinto beans on hand (I don't really care for them that much), and forgot to buy them at the store, so I used Dark Red Kidney Beans instead
-I used dried cilantro instead of fresh because I'm a cheap-o
-I used green bell pepper instead of poblano pepper.