Mexican Rice Soup

I cheated. I admit it, I buy industrial sized taco seasoning as its cheaper and easier to grab it at Costco than concoct my own from scratch. It is definitely way cheaper than buying those little packets of taco seasoning from the grocery store. Prolly wouldn't be that difficult, but what the heck sometimes it has to be about convenience.

The soup itself is inspired by a chicken and rice soup I had years ago as a starter at a Mexican joint in old Tuscon AZ. The addition of the corn was my idea to add some sweetness to calm the otherwise spicy-ish soup. Worked quite well if I say so myself.

Mexican Rice Soup

• 1 yellow onion finely diced
• 1 green bell pepper diced
• 1 T garlic minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 C mixed rice (white, brown, wild or substitute all white)
• 2 14 oz cans chicken broth
• 3 T taco seasoning
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t fresh ground black pepper
• 12 oz cooked chicken diced
• 8 oz frozen corn

Add olive oil to coat the bottom of a stock pot over medium-low heat. Cook onion and bell pepper and 1/4 t salt, saute until onions are caramelized. Add rice and garlic, cook 1 minute stirring constantly so as to not burn the garlic.

Add chicken, broth, taco seasoning and black pepper to the pot. Increase heat and bring to boil. Test seasoning and add more salt if needed. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour covered until rice is cooked through. Add corn at end and stir in until thawed and heated through, should take only a minute or two. (You don't want to over cook the corn so it looses its tender crisp texture).