The Kitchen Door

So dinner was upon me yet again and I had a plan (I menu plan so I always have a plan). Like many a night however, I didn’t feel like making what I had planned. Well, actually I forgot to brine the pork the day before (read recipes carefully people… I should have learned that lesson at this stage in the game) so, I wasn’t ready to cook the Pork Agrodolce (a brined plump pork chop with a balsamic reduction sauce, kind of a spicy “sweet and sour” chop if you will). 

Now that it was time to start dinner and I had only discovered that I wasn’t ready I needed something quick, requiring only what I had in the pantry and yummy enough to make it look like I had planned this all along (Mike doesn’t pay attention to my carefully posted weekly menu… whew).

I had some thawed ground beef (from another abandoned recipe two days previous… hey… I’m a mind changer that’s what I do) so I knew that tonight’s mystery meal would include ground beef. 

A quick check through the pantry revealed several cans of beans. I’m not sure why I hoard beans, but apparently I do. I knew what to make … TACO SOUP!

Yay! Dinner is solved. It was settled. I then remembered that my recipe calls for Ranch dressing mix. I don’t have any of that anymore because I don’t use mixes as much as I used to. No problem, to the interwebs I ran!  I found a few recipes for Ranch Dressing Mix… some were way elaborate and some just weird (the crumbs of 17 ground up saltines… what the?). I found one that made sense and used common ingredients. Thanks to Allrecipes.  

In less than 30 minutes we were sitting down to a hot and delicious bowl of taco soup and cornbread.

Here are the recipes; I hope you enjoy them.

Taco Soup plus a bonus recipe

Serves 4

The Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 package Ranch Dressing seasoning mix (see recipe for sub. below)
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 2 cups water
• 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 15 ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup of frozen corn (you could also use canned, just be sure and drain it)

Ranch Dressing Mix (Homemade)

• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 3/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp dried thyme

Mix all dressing mix ingredients together in a small bowl.

The Instructions

Dump everything in a large pot and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.  
Serve with corn chips and sour cream or cornbread on the side. I topped mine with diced avocado and shredded cheddar cheese.

By: The Kitchen Door

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