Taco Soup

I know that I have been very negligent since my return from Alaska; however we are busy trying to find a builder or just a house already built that we could move into. We also had company again and this time, I actually got to cook. This soup was perfect for the day they were landing as you could make it early and it held in case the plane was late. This was so easy and the best soup I have ever made. We were also lucky as we had a cold front and great relief from this hot weather. This recipe comes from Penzeys Spices Fall magazine. It says serves 8-10, we served 4 (including Jim) with a little left over. I started with Guacamole and chips from Costco.
Taco Soup
Ingredients:
1# ground beef or ground turkey (omit for vegetarian) I used turkey.
2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5 oz. can corn, drained or kernels from 3-4 ears corn ( I used 15 oz of frozen corn, thawed
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1-3 t Taco seasoning
1 16 oz container salsa of your preferred heat level (I used Mango with Peach from Costco)
Garnishes:
1 C tortilla chips, crumbled
1 C shredded cheddar
½ C sour cream
Directions:
1. In a soup kettle, brown the ground beef or ground turkey and drain any fat. Turkey won’t really get brown and I had no fat when I cooked mine.
2. Add the black beans, corn, tomatoes with juice, taco seasoning and salsa.
3. Cook over med-low heat for 20 minutes. Add water along the way if it gets too thick.
4. Serve with garnishes.
Like I said, real easy and really good.