Soup For Your Woes

Happy Sunday! Don't you think you could use some soup right about now? For your deciding purposes, let's reflect on the reasons why soup is amazing:

•You can make a soup out of absolutely anything.
•No, really. I've been thinking about this. If you have at least an onion, you can make a soup.
•There are so many kinds of soup that the average human doesn't usually get sick of soup until April.
•It's lunch! It's dinner!
•It's easy to pack and reheat.
•It's better, as you know, when it's a leftover.
•It's an opportunity/excuse for consumption of carbohydrates.
•Every soup recipe creates 100 gallons of soup.
•All of your food groups fit inside soup.
•Soup is so good at being frozen!
•Spoons are my favorite utensil. Soup needs spoons, just like I do.

I started making a really incredible soup a few months ago, and I have been so excited to share it with you. Here's the back story: when Andy and I were in Bloomington, Indiana visiting his alma mater at the end of September, we went to his favorite soup spot downtown with our friend Eoban. It's called Darn Good Soup (cute, right?) and it's tiny, but I suppose soup restaurants really only need to be big enough to hold some big pots and some bowls, you know? They had tons of soup. Tons. The soup both of the boys went for immediately? Tortilla soup. Now I, being no fool at all, ordered the same thing but braced myself, as I've never met a tortilla soup that I've loved. But this soup changed my mind. Chicken, beans, corn, onion, and a whole mess of other delicious bits. The selling point, though? It's texture. Seriously creamy, and thick, and more like a stew or a chowder than a soup. I was sold. I, of course, had to make it immediately.

I began researching tortilla soup that night in bed, and I discovered that the key to a creamy tortilla soup is refried beans, thinned out a bit with the broth. And, when I made the soup, I discovered this to be true. It's substantial and lovely and, as far as soups go, the prep on this one is pretty easy and smooth. If you have had tortilla soup in the past, and you weren't too thrilled about it, I want you to try this one, because the consistency is really different than what you may be used to. I know I always hyperactively declare things EASY ENOUGH FOR A WORK NIGHT!!!, but it's true with this soup. Granted, it'll be even easier on the weeknight when it's already made and all you have to do is pull it out of your fridge or freezer, but it really is doable to make this when you get home from work.

Happy end-of-Sunday, everyone, and good luck with this workweek. You can do it! I believe in you!

Tortilla Soup

4 T unsalted butter OR 4 T olive oil
32 oz can diced tomatoes
32 oz chicken or vegetable broth
16 oz refried beans (I use the fat free kind because I don't really think that refried beans need lard)
1/2 corn (frozen or canned or fresh)
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 large onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 heaping T chili powder
1 heaping T cumin
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, diced (unless it's a really crazy hot one -- then use less!)
salt and pepper

Sauté onion and peppers in olive oil or melted butter. When the onions are to your liking (I like to cook the hell out of mine, getting them a little caramelized and pretty darn brown) add cumin, chili powder, and garlic, plus 1/2 t each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until spices are wet and thick (about 1 minute, maybe a bit longer -- they should be very aromatic). Add tomatoes, beans, corn, and broth, and mix until smooth. Cook through, and then add chicken, plus some more salt, pepper, and heat (red pepper flakes, hot sauce) to taste. That's it! You're done!

Top with cilantro, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, lime juice, and tortilla chips.

Note about ambitiousness: If you're feeling really adventurous, you can make your own tortilla strips by slicing stale corn tortillas into thin strips and frying or baking them, but this isn't crucial in my book. The beauty of this soup is that it is so incredibly easy, and creating this soup will make you feel really accomplished in the way a cheater might feel after stealing the win in CandyLand, so making chips might suck too much of that glory right out of this project. But making chips might also make you feel like a wizard, in which case you should do it!