Saturday, May 27, 2006

Happy Tortilla Soup

Not really in the mood to blog ... Little Warrior got her double-strength, double-scoop of chemo on Thursday, but she is doing great, so I'm just enjoying it. Watching the kids playing outside in the sprinkler and so glad that they can still get so much enjoyment out of something so simple.

Great "recipe" to share, especially if you want to get more veggies in your diet (or your children), but aren't that big a fan of a bowl of steamed vegetables.

Take a lot of vegetables -- last time, I used onions, celery, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, garlic, and carrots. Whatever combo you like, but be sure to have some kind of squash in it. That helps the texture.

Roast them in the oven til they're releasing their aromas and getting kind of soft.

Toss them in a big pot with chicken or vegetable broth, a couple-or-three corn tortillas, a can or two of tomatoes (fire-roasted, if you can find them), a generous amount of cumin and oregano, and some fresh jalapeno or serrano pepper, seeded and membranes removed.

Cook til everything is soft enough to be pureed. Cool for a while.

Puree in the blender.

That is not as simple as it seems.

Notes on the pureeing: I love my immersion blender, but it's just not going to give you the silky texture that makes this so amazing. So, about a half a blender at a time, puree the soup. Put a towel on the lid. It's going to spatter, just accept it. Pour the pureed soup back in the pan, and either cook it a bit if you want it thicker, or add water if you want it thinner.

To serve: Garnish with some chopped grilled chicken -- or not. Swizzle a little Mexican crema on it, or sour cream diluted with milk. Crumble some Queso Fresca and tortilla chips on top.

Damn, that's good. And I don't even like broccoli.

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