Southwestern Tortilla Soup with Chicken

Well it is official.  We had snow in Toronto on Sunday.  Now, it didn't snow much or snow for long, but snow is definitely snow, and that signals the beginning of serious soup season for me.  There is definitely something soothing and comforting about eating a bowl of hot soup on a cold day, especially on a Saturday or Sunday for lunch.  I admit I have a bit of a thing about soup as a main course for dinner, even with sandwiches, but I find that concept easier to digest (haHa!) than the whole breakfast for dinner thing.  That one I do not think I will ever truly understand.  Why would you want bacon, eggs and pancakes for dinner...that one just escapes me.  Anyway...tonight is soup for dinner.

Food historians seem to agree that the origin of the word "soup" comes from "sop" and relates to the concept of soaking, or sopping, up.   Soup is probably as old as the history of cooking itself and has evolved in both sedentary and nomadic cultures, rich and poor cultures, and is the meal of the healthy as well as the sick.  Soup = comfort.

I do love all kinds of soup...Minestrone is a family favourite, esp with T-Rex and the Teen.  I like Chinese Hot'n'sour Soup (one of the few ways I like tofu) and I make a really nice Asian inspired Carrot with Ginger.  I like fish chowders - both  New England and Boston style.  And I like cold soup in the summer, like Gazpacho from Spain or a Purred Cucumber Soup with Yogurt.  I even made a cold soup a few summers ago with watermelon.  I have yet to try making Borscht, but maybe that can be a project for another weekend..  And French Onion soup, Vichyssoise...oh and Boulibase....mmmm.  I haven`t made that one in a while either.  Basically what I am saying is that the combinations are endless, and well... I love soup.

So today`s soup is my quickie version of Southwestern Tortilla Soup with Chicken.  When I say quickie in this context what I mean is quick to put together with few ingredients.  This soup can be made on the stove top with equally good results, but I do like the concept of just putting a few ingredients in my slow cooker and walking away for several hours to come back to a wonderful lunch, or leaving for work and coming home to dinner ready made.

Southwestern Tortilla Soup with Chicken

1 large chicken breast (I put mine in frozen)
1 jar of your favourite salsa (I used Presidents Choice No-name Medium Salsa)
1 carton chicken or vegetable stock
1 can creamed corn (This is the secret ingredient, trust me!)
half a can of black beans or kidney beans
6-8 corn flour tortillas
Your choice of toppings:  avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc.

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except tortillas, in the slow cooker and stir.  Set to high if you want lunch within a few hours, or low for all day cooking.  That`s it.  If you have a can of green chiles that is a nice addition or even a chipotle.  As our kids were eating this, we went just as is.

Before serving, using a knife or scissors (a la Nigella) cut tortillas into long strips.  Toast under the broiler or in a toaster oven until crispy.

To serve, place a pile of tortilla strips in the bottom of a large soup bowl.  Ladle hot soup over top.  Sprinkle with your favourite toppings and serve.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Blue Cheese

I work with the most wonderful women.  They are fun, extremely interesting and intelligent.  Many of them have great shoes.  One in particular has particularly wonderful shoe collection (those teal blue patent pumps rock sista!) and a fantastic shoe calendar on her desk that I enjoy stopping by to view daily so we can dish and crit the shoe or boot de jour.  That's my friend Judith - she fits in all the above categories, AND she is a creative home chef.


The below recipe stems from a discussion we had a while back in the kitchen at work about roasting cauliflower and making it into soup with blue cheese!  It also seems to help me out with the fact that I have 2 heads of cauliflower and a big onion sitting in my fridge and a half wheel of Danish Blue (a staple for me).


Roasted Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium sized head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chicken broth1/2 cup milk (I used 1%), cream or half and half
1/3 cup crumbled Danish Blue cheese or the blue of your choice
1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
1/8 teaspoon salt 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss cauliflower florets and quartered onion in 1 tsp. olive oil to coat.  Place in oven and roast for approximately 30 minutes, or until florets are starting to soften and have some colour.  Place onion and cauliflower in a slow cooker, and set to low.  If you don't have a slow cooker you can definitely do this on the stove top, but I am going out soon, so I want to let this go while I am out.  Add broth and simmer, covered, until cauliflower is very tender, about 25 minutes.

Purée cauliflower mixture in batches in a blender until very smooth, adding milk a bit at a time until desired thickness is reached.  Please use caution when blending hot liquids.  I suggest removing the stopper on the blender lid and covering it with a tea towel.  Return soup to a clean medium sized sauce pan and warm over low heat.   Add blue cheese, pepper and salt and cook over low heat, whisking, until Stilton is melted and soup is smooth, about 1 minute.

Saturday Morning Black Bean Soup in the Slow Cooker.

Pulled out the slow cooker this morning while my enlgish muffin was a-toasing (ahhh....multi-tasking already) and looked in the cupboard and fridge to see what needed to be used up.  I had blackbeans that I cooked WAY too much of earlier in the week, an opened 1.3L jar of really good pico de gallo salsa that we got a few weeks ago at food hoarder mecca (Costco) and a pantry of stuff itching to be used.

Quick Slow (Cooker) Black Bean Soup:

2-3 cups left over black beans (or open a can or two if you must)

500 ml salsa

1 boullion cube  and 2 c water or 2 c chicken stock from a can or carton you must use up

left over chicken or pork (pork in our case from the roast) - optional

1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

2-3 tsp Herdedz chipotle sauce (or a chipotle or 2 depending on your love for heat)

4 dashes liquid smoke (optional)

Put everything in your slow cooker and stir.   Set to low. Have a shower, get dressed, go out and do stuff.  Let cook for a good 3-4 hrs minimum to let the flavours meld.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  Put some in a blender and puree for a thicker soup or puree it all if you want to minimize the appearance of black beans.  

I have learned that the T-Rex seems to not like black beans?  What is that about?  What did they ever do to him? No clue.  So he might eat this if he can't see black beans....I know...in black bean soup.  He he.

We'll probably top with sour cream, chopped avocado and fresh cilantro to serve.  Yummy!