Tortilla Soup

After a day shoveling snow and a few runs sledding down our steepest steps (2 feet of snow made it a pretty good luge), soup was just what we wanted for dinner. I have two versions of tortilla soup that I like. Someday I'll have to taste test them side by side and figure out which is faster to make. If I had to tell you now, I'd say that the one from Rick Bayless is tastier and the one from the Moosewood is easier. The one we ate last night is adapted from Sundays at the Moosewood Restaurant. I made a quadruple batch last time and froze it in quart baggies. I added the full amount of lime it called for, which made it a little too limey, so when I thawed the soup last night, I thinned it with a little chicken stock I had in the freezer and it was just a little more than the three of us ate. With the soup base already made, all I had to do was assemble the toppings, which went much faster than the time it took to thaw and heat up the soup.

Tomato, Lime and Tortilla Soup

1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used canned diced tomatoes)
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (to taste - probably 1/4 cup is about right)
salt to taste

Toppings:
tortilla chips
cheese (queso fresco is best, but cheddar and jack are also good)
chopped cilantro
cubed avocado
pasilla or chipotle hot sauce

In a medium soup pot, saute the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the chiles, cumin, and oregano, and saute for a few more minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover the pot and cook gently. Stir occasionally. Add the stock and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Add the lime juice and salt to taste.

I prefer this soup pureed. It's easiest if you have a hand blender to do it right in the pot, but if you don't, then do the tomatoes and onions in the blender in batches, adding just enough stock to thin. Put it back in the pot and simmer.

Serve with the toppings. When we really want to make it more authentic and delicious, we make our own tortilla chips. Cut 6 tortillas in 1/2 inch strips 2-3 inches long, let them dry out a bit, then fry them in 1/2 inch of hot oil (I use canola) until they are crispy and lightly browned. The browning gives them a delicious flavor, so I try to push it until they're golden, but not brown (somewhere in the middle range).