Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Since we are in the process of moving, I've been trying to use up things in the cabinets (i.e. less to move).  I threw together a vegetarian tortilla soup based on the ingredients we had lying around.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of diced tomatoes
  
• 1/2 cup of kashi pilaf (essentially brown rice and some grains)
  
• 4 cups of water
  
• 1/2 a bouillon cube
  
• 1 can of black beans
  
• 1/2 an onion, diced
  
• 1/2 a green pepper, diced
  
• dash of Cholula hot sauce
  
• salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder
  
• lots of cilantro, chopped
  
• lime juice
  
• a few swigs of beer
  
• 3 corn tortillas, sliced in strips
  

I cooked the pilaf, as per the directions.  Once it was almost cooked, I added the diced tomatoes, a few dashes of hot sauce and some chili powder and cumin. Once the tomatoes had heated up, I added the black beans and let the mixture heat through.  Next I added the 4 cups of water and the bouillon.  Once this was close to a boil, I turned the heat down to low and a few splashes of Blue Moon beer (because that's what I had opened up to drink) and the onions and peppers.  I basically let it all simmer until Nicole got home (maybe half an hour).  

While waiting, I sliced up the corn tortillas and fried them in about 1 tablespoon of oil, until they were crispy.  Right before we were ready to eat I added a little splash of lime juice, salt and peppered to taste and added lots of cilantro.  Each bowl gets topped with the tortilla strips.