TACO SOUP

After being gone to Naples the last four days, spent most of today catching up with laundry and making friends with Indy again (her nose was severely out of joint being left home alone all that time ...though I suspect she spent most of the time curled up sleeping in my bed).  Tossed together Taco Soup for dinner and made some cornbread with diced green chiles to go along with it.   This is one of DH and my favorite meals.

1 lb of lean ground beef 

1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced 
1 can of pinto beans, undrained
1 can of kidney beans, undrained
1 cup of frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 4.5 oz can of diced green chilies (optional)
1package of ranch salad dressing mix 
1 package taco seasoning
1 to 3 cups of water (depends on how brothy you want the soup)

Brown the ground beef in a pan.  Add onion and garli and lightly brown.  Mix everything else in and cook approximately 30 minutes ...though longer doesn't hurt.  Have even made this in a crockpot.

I use whatever beans I have in the house and generally add a can of hominy to the mix.  We like the tortilla-flavour the hominy adds to the soup.  It's a pretty forgiving soup ... I've garnished it with any of the following:  crumbled tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream, freshly chopped tomatoes, sliced olives or green onions.