Yummy Homemade Tortilla Soup

I just ate another bowl of the awesomely delicious chicken tortilla soup I made the other day and thought I might share it. I am very proud of myself, as I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. Enjoy!

LaLa's Homemade Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
olive oil
chicken breasts
chicken stock (I usually use the boxed, free range/organic kind, which equals out to about six cups)
water
minced garlic
chopped calabacitas (yellow and green)
chopped tomatoes
chopped onion
chopped carrots
kidney beans
chopped hot green chile & green chile sauce (505 brand is the best!)
blue corn tortilla strips/chips
salt and pepper to taste

** quantities vary according to how many folks you'll serve (plus I'm pretty free form when it comes to quantities when cooking my own stuff, otherwise I follow recipes to a “t”)

How to:
1. Sauté the garlic in olive oil until lightly browned, add the chopped onions and sauté until translucent.

2. Add the carrots and calabacitas and cook until they begin to soften (roughly 7 mins)

3. Add the tomatoes and kidney beans, cook a bit longer (about 3-4 more minutes), stirring frequently

4. Add the chicken stock, water, green chile sauce and green chile. Cover and cook on low heat for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. The reason I used the green chile sauce was because: one, I love the flavor of the one 505 makes and two, I was feeling somewhat lazy and didn’t want to make my own slurry – which I sometimes muck up because I’m too impatient to let it develop before I add more to whatever soup I’m cooking. The sauce gave the soup the perfect consistency and it was super easy! I added some chopped hot green chile just add a bit more to the “heft” of the soup and some additional flavor.

5. Put in the fridge over night. Letting almost any soup sit over night really helps to develop the flavors, I've found. It never tastes quite as good as it does the next day, or the next.

6. When you’re ready to heat up the soup for dinner, prep your bowl by crushing some blue or yellow corn tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl (you can fry/bake your own tortilla strips, but I was running out of time preparing for my guests). Top with a heaping portion of soup and lots and lots of cheese on top!

7. Enjoy with a Mexican beer!!

Yummy Moroccan Vegetable Tajine

We are having a good friend over for dinner tomorrow night, so I thought I'd pull out one of the best recipes I've ever made - Moroccan Stew!! Enjoy!

Moroccan Vegetable Tajine

1 ½ cups of chopped onions

3 garlic cloves

1/3 cup of olive oil

1 tsp dried thyme

3 cups cubed potatoes

1 cup chopped green beans

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 cups cubed fresh tomatoes

3 cups of vegetable stock (I substitute chicken stock because it usually makes it taste so much better)

13 ounce can of (marinated - tastes better, trust me!) artichoke hearts

½ cup of pitted black olives, halved

Pinch of saffron

¼ cup of lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

*************************

1. Sautee the onions and the garlic in the olive oil until the onions are translucent;

2. Add the thyme, potatoes, green beans, bell pepper, and tomatoes on high heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally;

3. Add the stock and brine from the artichokes and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes until the veggies are tender;

4. Add black olives and artichoke hearts and cook for another 10 minutes;

5. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste and the juice of half a lemon.

And, voila! I find that the best to enjoy the stew is to make it the night before, refrigerate it and then heat it up right before serving.

I love to serve this stew with a warm, fresh loaf of olive bread and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir.

*Thanks to Moosewood Cookbook for this kick ass recipe! And a special thanks to Big Al for gifting me with the cookbook years ago. I had just gotten back from a visit to the Bay Area and had eaten at Masawa on Haight Street and came home absolutely in love with Ethiopian food. After hearing me rant and rave, Alyson gave me the cookbook to encourage my new passion for cooking and for African food in general. Thanks, Big Al!