monday pick-me-up: easy, hearty tortilla soup!

mmm... there is nothing better than homemade soup on a cold, snowy night! especially if it's an easy soup... which is what i'll be sharing with you. most soups on the internet call for cups of chicken broth, which i don't like to use because i have yet to find a chicken broth/stock at the store without msg, natural flavorings (which are not natural at all!), and high amounts of salt... all of which are so bad for you. so i've been making soup without it, just adding water instead to avoid all those unhealthy ingredients... and it tastes great!! husband was raving about this one in particular. :)

recipe
(i use all organic ingredients- they always taste best!!)
  1/2 lb. of organic ground beef
  3/4 jar of salsa
  2 celery stalks (chopped)
  1/2 onion (chopped)
  3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
  3 tbsp. olive oil
  1 cup of brown rice
  1 can of black beans (strained)
  1 jalapeno (finely chopped)
  tortilla chips + cilantro for garnish
  salt + pepper to taste

   1. saute chopped garlic, onion, and jalapeno with 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large pot (over medium-high heat).
   2. once the onion looks translucent, fill pot 2/3 with water, bring to a boil.
   3. add rice, salsa, celery and black beans. set timer for 45 minutes.
   4. in a separate pan, cook ground beef in the remaining olive oil then add to the soup, reduce heat to low, so that the soup is simmering.
   5. once the timer goes off, serve and garnish with tortilla chips and cilantro! if the soup isn't as spicy as you thought it would be, just sprinkle some crushed red peppers on top {i did it and tastes great!}.
{p.s. refrigerate the remainder of the soup}

enjoy! :)