Healthy Tortilla Soup

Healthy Tortilla Soup

Healthy Tortilla Soup

Originally this healthy tortilla soup came from a Farm to Table outfit. We liked it so much that over several years we have experimented with the recipe and tweaked it to our liking. This soup has relatively little “heat,” even though dried chili peppers are used.

Recipe for healthy tortilla soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin*
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon of fresh or ½ teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 -2 dried New Mexico or Pasilla peppers stemmed, seeded, and torn into smaller pieces
• 4 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
• 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 ears of corn on the cob, roasted
• 1 avocado
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

• Into Dutch Oven or soup pot, add one tablespoon of the olive oil
• Sauté onion until transparent, about 5 to 8 minutes
• Add garlic when onions are almost done and cook one more minute
• Add the tomato paste, oregano, cumin
• Add broth and bring to boil, then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Toast Chile peppers in the oven or on pan, until softened. Use a spice grinder to make Chile powder.
• Add the Chile powder a little at time, taste, and adjust.
• Heat a gas grill or use the stove top to lightly roast the corn on the cob. Slice the corn kernels off the cob.
• Add the diced tomatoes, beans, tortillas, and roasted corn kernels to the soup. Simmer until the soup is hot and ready to serve.
• Garnish the soup a few avocado slices and some cilantro

Serves Four

Wine Matches healthy tortilla soup:

• For the healthy tortilla soup, I like a Garnacha wine from Spain
• Spicy Pinot Noir
• Rosé wine
• White wines with a tad of sweetness. Rieslings or Gewurztraminer
  will do the job.