Combine all the soup ingredients and chopped corn tortillas in a large saucepan or soup pot over high heat.   Bring soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the soup has thickened and tortilla pieces have mostly dissolved. If salt-free broth is used, add salt to taste near the end of cooking.

To serve, ladle about 1½ cups into a bowl. Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of the grated cheddar/jack cheese blend over the top of the soup, and then a heaping tablespoon of crumbled corn tortilla chips over the cheese.

6 servings, each 209 calories:   9% from fat (2.0 g),  61% from carbohydrates (29.9 g),  10% from protein (14.6 g).  Sodium 320 mg,  Fiber 5.6 g.

If baked corn tortilla chips are not available, preheat oven to 325 F. and place yellow corn tortillas on the wire rack. Bake until they begin to turn a darker color, about ten minutes, but remove immediately, as they will burn if left in the oven any longer. After they are cooled, the chips can be crumbled for the recipe above or eaten alone or with salsa as a low-fat treat .

To make non-fat crispy taco shells, place each tortilla so that it is centered over two of the wires on the rack, placing the edges of the torillas under the other wires. Bake as above - they will curl around in an upside-down 'U' shape to make perfect taco shells.

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©2000 Dr. Neal Pinckney

Healing Heart Foundation       www.kumu.org