Taco Soups Three

Among our Christmas loot was a treasured cookbook that we received from a sister. Her local church group put together one of those great neighborhood cookbooks full of tried-and-true, foolproof recipes that our neighbors use all the time. Over the years, we've gathered dozens of these cookbooks, and we use them regularly. Many of our family favorites and our specialties were first discovered in these books.

This one, Recipes to Remember from the Roy 26th Ward Relief Society, 2001, is a good one, and I'm not just saying that because our sister supplied a bunch of the recipes. (Don't tell anyone, but I think she uses too much sour cream in things....)

In browsing for bean recipes, I found three consecutive recipes named "Taco Soup." They are similar but different in the details. Two involve Ranch-style salad dressing, one does not. Have a look at these recipes, hereinafter (I can't help it--my wife's a lawyer) labeled Taco Soup 1, 2, and 3. They go from the most complicated to the simplest.

• 2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 can jalapeno-flavored pinto beans, undrained
• 1 can pinto beans, undrained
• 1 can white corn
• 1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 1 package Original Ranch-style salad dressing mix
• 1 can Mexican-flavored stewed tomatoes
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
• 2 1/2 cups water
• salt and pepper, to taste

Brown the ground beef or turkey with the diced onion in a large skillet or pan. Drain off the grease and add the other ingredients. Adjust the amount of water to your own preference for thickness of the soup. Add salt and pepper as needed. Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Serve over tortilla chips or crackers, if desired. Goes well with cornbread. Garnish with freshly chopped onions, grated cheese, and/or chopped tomatoes, as desired.

This cooks well in a crock pot and will stay warm all day.

Original recipe by LaDawn Teuscher.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 1 quart stewed tomatoes (home-canned is the best!)
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 1 can corn (or an equivalent amount of frozen corn)
• taco-flavored tortilla chips
• cheese, grated, as garnish (optional)
• sour cream, as garnish (optional)

Brown the ground beef with the chopped onions. Drain off the fat, then add the remaining ingredients. Simmer 20 minutes.

Serve or garnish with grated cheese and sour cream. Serve over taco chips.

Original recipe by Holly Demille.