Fiesta Pasta Soup

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth with roasted garlic (if you can not find this, mince 2 cloves garlic and use an add'l can of chicken broth)
• 2 cups water
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained (i use the hot rotel myself)
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced (reduce to 1 tbl if dried is used)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 lb smoked sausage (or spicy)
• 6 ounces vermicelli, broken into about 1 inch pieces
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can corn (mexican corn if you can find it)
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 sliced avocado (to garnish)
• grated cheddar cheese or monterey jack cheese (to garnish)

Recipe

• 1 (remember spices can be adjusted to taste).
• 2 in soup pot, combine all ingredients up to the sausage bringing to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes.
• 3 slice sausage in 1/2 lengthwise then thinly slice into pieces.
• 4 add the sausage, pasta, corn& black beans to the broth mixture, cover& simmer another 10 to 15 minutes (or until vermicelli is cooked).
• 5 stir in lime juice.
• 6 ladle into bowls and garnish each with thinly sliced avacado (or you can chunk if you prefer) and grated cheese.
• 7 note: i like to serve this with hot mexican corn bread and a small dinner salad.