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Tortilla soup with black beans and chilies By Steve Petusevsky
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT)
There are many wonderful things about living in an eternally warm climate. But there also are some drawbacks. From a cook's perspective, one of the things that bother me is that the weather is rarely conducive to making hot and hearty soups.
Instead of being weather induced, my soup is inspired by people being sick (there's a lot of flu going around). And that's just wrong. So at least from now through February, my goal is to make more soups just because they taste good.
After all, they are nutritious if they are made well. They can be stored for at least five days and make an inexpensive meal with the addition of just some great bread or salad. And best of all, they are quite forgiving to the novice cook. You can put almost anything together with just a little bit of kitchen savvy.
I hardly ever make cream-based soups because I prefer those based on clear broths with lots of vegetables, beans, grains or pasta in them. If I want a thick, rich soup, I serve a pureed soup or finish my soup with a bit milk or condensed milk instead of cream.
Recently I've been thickening my soups with pureed vegetables, rice or beans. Here's a vegetarian version of a traditional Mexican tortilla soup made with tortilla strips, black beans and cilantro.
TORTILLA SOUP WITH BLACK BEANS AND CHILIES
You can omit the tofu, if you like. I sometimes make this with shredded seitan or wheat gluten. You can purchase canned chopped tomatoes packed with green chile peppers, for extra flavor. For more spice, add a canned chopped chipotle chile in adobo. For the broth, try diluting one of the vegetarian soup base pastes. They add rich flavor, and they are much better than canned veggie broth.
Add the corn, black beans, water or broth, tomatoes with their juice and tomato puree. Bring to a simmer and cook 40 minutes.
Add the tofu, if using; cilantro and lime juice; stir to combine and heat through. Turn off the heat, add the crushed tortilla chips and let sit 10 minutes before serving. (If not serving all the soup at one time, only add a portion of the tortilla chips to the soup you are serving immediately). Makes 12 to 16 servings.
Per serving with tofu: 101 calories, 27 percent calories from fat, 3 grams total fat, .3 gram saturated fat, .9 milligram cholesterol, 16 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams total fiber, 3 grams total sugars, 12 grams net carbs, 5 grams protein, 274 milligrams sodium.
Per serving without tofu: 77 calories, 25 percent calories from fat, 2 grams total fat, .3 gram saturated fat, .9 milligram cholesterol, 14 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams total fiber, 3 grams total sugars, 11 grams net carbs, 3 grams protein, 260 milligrams sodium.
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To comment, please click here. Chef Steven Petusevsky is a pioneer in the marriage of good taste and sound nutrition, successfully pairing healthy ingredients with creative cooking techniques. Chef Steve has been the National Director Of Creative Food Development for Whole Foods Market, the largest natural food retail chain in the country. Chef Petusevsky is author of the WholeFoods Market Cookbook- The Ultimate Guide to Natural Foods, published by Random House, Fall 2002. He is currently working on his next book, Happiness is a Home Cooked Meal~ 100 Simple & Savory Recipes & Recollections
© 2009, Sun Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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