tortilla soup

i have to admit, i love going out for brunch…or dinner…or for that matter i just love eating out. i especially enjoy eating out when i crave inspiration.

i’m pretty good about picking apart a meal and figuring out what is in it from the ingredients i see or taste. i can usually come up with something very close or almost exact. it’s a gift, what can i say. this gift can also get me in trouble. i go home and i dwell on a meal for days…in some cases i get phone calls waiting for recipes (i have a friend still waiting for this polenta salad we had a couple weeks back together).

2 days ago…around 12:30

i was trapped at a friends house stuffing envelopes for an event i am working on. i am super excited about the event (not so much the stuffing the envelope part but that was my idea). around 12:30 my stomach started growling and i knew it was time to eat. someone mentioned a local place i am not to crazy about but my stomach at that point didn’t care what i ate. honestly, i just wanted to be fed.

the same day, around 1:00ish…

as we unpacked our lunch i spotted this soup…tortilla soup? really? it looked weird…not what i was used too. it was creamy and cheesy, yes, cheesy. i looked around, opened the container and casually mentioned i was tasting it.

one day later…around 4:00

tortilla soup.

tortilla soup

1. in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed soup pot saute onion, garlic and pepper in about a tbl of canola oil (you can use any type of oil, i prefer now a days to saute in canola). cook for about 5 minutes until onion and pepper soften.
2. meanwhile in a blender or food processor add your can of tomatoes and cilantro, stems and all. blend till combined.
3. to the pot of onions and peppers add tomato mixture and one tbl of taco seasoning (see here) mix and cook for another minute.
4. add stock, can of black beans, crumbled tortilla chips and juice of one lime. bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.
5. right before serving add a 1/2 cup of cheese (i used chedder, jack would of been awesome), mix, let it melt into soup and serve.

the tortilla chips will thicken up the broth, trust me, i know it might sound weird. serve with sour cream, extra cilantro, extra cheese, pico, grilled shrimp, fried tortillas (see below) or just tortilla chips.

frying a tortilla

frying tortillas are very simple. add some oil to a skillet, heat up and add sliced or whole tortilla. they brown very fast, about 30 seconds a side.

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