Must be soup weather...

Tortilla Soup

At first glance this looks to be over the top complicated. It’s not at all, read thru the recipe first. This will fill four good size soup bowls

I have had many different versions of this soup - some are good and some are very bad. Either too hot with spice, too watery with no depth of flavor. That's why I ROAST the vegetables before putting them in the soup.

Here we go.............

Start out by preheating your oven 400 degrees

2 red peppers cut in chunks
1 large onion chunks
3 large carrots large chop

Place all the veggies on a baking sheet, sprinkle with oil of your choice, salt and pepper toss to coat. bake for about 20 minutes.

My love for Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes is well known, I had some leftover chicken breast about two good size that I diced up and some of my mean green sauce** see below

After the veggies are roasted and cooled some, I added to the chopped chicken, poured the mean green sauce over the chicken and added a half a container box of low sodium chicken broth. Let that simmer for a bit and added my can of fire roasted tomatoes, added the remainder of the low sodium chicken broth and let simmer for about half hour. Had a can of white hominy, rinsed it well and added that to the pot. Now remember the mean green sauce already has a lot of seasoning so extra is not need. Taste as you go. If you don't have a fondness for hominy you could use potatoes small chop

Once the hominy is heated thru it tends to thicken the soup, so I added another box of low sodium chicken broth.

Garnished with tortilla strips* slices of avocado, lime wedges and some fresh cilantro. I had made corn muffins earlier and added a small can of chopped green chiles to the batter.

If you want more spice, dice very, very finely a jalapeno pepper and add just at the end. Find the similar recipe here at the Muir Glen site. Try it if you like spicing, adjusting it if you don't. Dang this was good. Although a few zantacs were passed around at the completion on the meal.

*Tortilla strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
Three 6-inch corn tortillas, cut into ¼-inch strips
While the soup is cooking, prepare the tortilla strips. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tortilla strips in a single layer. Cook for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally with tongs, until the strips are light brown and crispy. Transfer the strips to a plate lined with a paper towel.

**Mean Green Sauce
1 can of Herdez Salsa Verde, or something that has tomatillos, onions, serrano peppers, salt, and cilantro.
1/2 ripe avocado
about 1/2 cup cilantro, packed
one serrano pepper, no seeds

Blend this in a food processor until smooth. Add salt to taste or extra serrano peppers if you like it hotter. Strain out all the seed.

Now here's the odd part, bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for about five minutes. Don't boil, just simmer, this isn't a reduction. Thin with a bit of water or chicken broth. This is a real thin sauce. Maybe as thin as tomato juice. Cool and refrigerate. Can be kept in the fridge for a few days.

Cactus