Vegan Crockpot Tortilla Soup

This semester is insane. Aside from my mom dying, I've been feeling all semester that I may have finally bitten off more than I can chew (food joke partially intentional). I'm finally feeling slightly less like that today, which could be due to the fact that spring break is next week, or that I got a massage last week, or maybe I've just finally habituated to being as far behind as I am currently. Who knows. Regardless, the feeling of partial relief and a recipe success means I'm finally posting something new here! I'm also hoping to cook a few more things during spring break.

Remember the friends who cooked for us before we went to Minnesota? They rock. Mike, the one who went to culinary school, also stocked our freezer with two meals while we were gone (two other friends did the same). One of the dishes he put in our freezer was a tortilla soup to cook in the crockpot. I cooked it last week while Shana was gone and thought it was delicious. However, I knew she wouldn't eat it because it had too many "chunks" (read: pieces of tomato). Despite the chunks, I thought she would really like soup, so I decided to make it again this week with a few tweaks to make it Shana-friendly. It worked - a super delicious Shana-friendly new meal! It's SO easy and relies on convenience ingredients, which makes it a snap to put together in the morning. Plus, dinner's ready when you get home and you can throw any leftovers in the freezer (we didn't have any to freeze, though). This soup is a winner any way you look at it!

Vegan Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
2 c. vegetable broth
1, 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1, 10 oz. can enchilada sauce
1, 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1, 4 oz. can chopped green chilis
10 oz. frozen corn kernels
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 scant tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 bay leaf
tortilla chips

Directions
1. Put everything in crockpot, stir.
2. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
3. Crush tortilla chips on top while you eat.

Helpful Hints

• Mike makes this and adds 1 T. chopped cilantro. I meant to add a bit this morning, but forgot. It was delicious without it and since Shana doesn't like cilantro very much, it worked out. However, I think the freshness of the cilantro would be great! You could put it in at the beginning or garnish individual bowls with it. Mike also used a can of peeled chopped tomatoes (in place of the crushed), which you can do as well. 
• I used a can of "mild" enchilada sauce, but you could certainly use medium or hot if you want more heat in the soup. There was almost no heat to this soup, which was fine by me. I could go up to a "medium" enchilada sauce, but I don't think I could do hot. 
• I also meant to stop by the store to see if I could find a ripe avocado for a garnish. I forgot to stop, so no avocado. However, the next time, I'm making sure there's avocado! You could also garnish with hot sauce for those of you who like heat (if you make a mild version) or even a lime wedge. 
• I loved the crunch of the tortilla chips on top! I only put on one crumbled chip at a time so that it would maintain some crunch. You could also make your own tortilla strips (or buy some if you can find a vegan version), but the chips were great. I also sometimes used a chip to scoop up some soup. 

The post "Vegan Crockpot Tortilla Soup" first appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.