Now that the holidays are over, I’m back in the swing of things. Back to a regular schedule, no more Christmas baking, and back to a normal (and much healthier) diet. Thank goodness!
Amanda from Fake Ginger selected Texas Tortilla Soup for this week’s Project Pastry Queen. I changed the name because I quite drastically changed the flavor profile by adding chipotle chilies and using much more chicken stock.
Neither Andy nor I are tomato-based soup fans. With enough tweaking, I knew I could come up with something tasty. Unfortunately, Andy didn’t really care for it but that just means I have more leftovers for lunch the next few days!
The best part of this meal? It’s healthy, so eat up (and don’t add too much cheese)!!!
INGREDIENTS
Soup
4 plum tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 Tbls olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
4 C chicken stock
1 dried ancho or pasilla chili
1 canned chipotle chili
14.5 oz. can whole tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
meat from 1 rotisserie chicken
1 C corn (fresh or frozen)
Garnishes
1 ripe avocado
Tortilla chips or bake strips
1 plum tomato, diced
¼ C cilantro, roughly chopped
½ C cheese (I used the pre-shredded Mexican mix)
Sour cream (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the tomatoes in half. Spread ½ Tbls of the olive oil on a baking sheet and place tomatoes on sheet, skin side up. Brush top of tomatoes with ½ Tbls olive oil.
- Roast the tomatoes for 25-35 min until skin is partially peeling off and slightly browned.
- Heat remaining 1 Tbls olive oil in a heavy-bottomed, soup pot over medium-heat. Add the onion and garlic. Saute for about 5 min.
- Stir in chili powder and cumin and cook for 1 min.
- Add chicken stock and ancho chili. Bring to a boil, then cover. Reduce heat. Simmer for 15 min.
- Remove chili (discard stems if you don’t want the heat). Place chili, chipotle chili, canned tomatoes and juices, and roasted tomato in food processor. Puree for 1 min.
- Add tomato puree back into soup. Simmer for 1 hour, covered.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add chicken and corn. Simmer for 5 min.
- Garnish with avocado, tortilla strips, tomatoes, cilantro, shredded cheese, and sour cream.
NOTES
4 meal-sized servings. This recipe can easily be doubled.
Adapted from The Pastry Queen’s Texas Tortilla Soup.