Traveling taco soup

Yup, tomorrow I'm traveling to see my parents, possibly without my spouse. It's always fun to visit them, in part because a common meal is nigh impossible. Jax and I have our list of foods to avoid, Andy is vegetarian, Adam is diabetic, Dad only eats fish, and Mom is just plain picky in her avoidance of all vegetables except white potatoes. She doesn't even eat marinara sauce, preferring instead to melt a slice of American cheese over her pasta. Anyway, if you Venn-diagrammed my family's dietary requirements, you would have about 5 distinctly non-overlapping circles. This would be why we don't go out to eat together.

Jax and I really eat a whole foods diet out of necessity as well as preference. In the past 2 months I have had almost no processed/refined food. Once again I'm so glad to be a vegetarian. Before all this started up, I already had developed both a taste for healthy foods and the ability to cook them. If I were one of those people who only eat items that come ready-made in a box, I'd be in trouble.

My contribution Saturday will be taco soup, a favorite in my house. It came to us from my mom's friend Juli, has been altered quite a bit over the years, and finally I have perfected it into the glorious meal it is today.

1 can each: kidney beans, northern beans, black beans, chile peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, whole-kernel corn.
to taste: tiny pinch cumin, paprika, chile powder, tiny pinch sugar, splash of lime juice
splash liquid smoke or Bragg's liquid amino

Obviously, rinse the beans in a large colander, and don't drain the corn. Put in the Crock-Pot for a couple hours, or simmer in the stovetop, whatever your preference. Garnish with your preferred taco fixings, a heap of nutritional yeast, and lots of corn chips. I actually skip the spoon and eat it like chips and dip.

Formerly I added onion and garlic powder, and one jar of taco sauce. This is fine without them, though. Also, the original recipe called for a pound of ground beef, browned, but everyone I tried that on (back in the pre-veg days) agreed it was better without the meat. As is everything else I can think of.

Even though it's spring and I normally don't enjoy hot soups during warm weather, we usually eat taco soup all year long because it's just that good.