Tomato Tortilla Soup

My truly awesome friend Sarah gave me this recipe a couple years ago, but this is the first time I've made it. She's a vegetarian -- now primarily vegan -- and has been a wealth of awesome recipe ideas now that we're trying to eat less dairy and no meat at home. You rock, Sarah! I miss you!

This recipe doesn't call for it, but I decided to throw some seitan in anyway, since I have part of a batch leftover from yesterday, to add some protein and mimic a chicken tortilla soup.

I also discovered midway through that I didn't have enough tortilla chips, so I went ahead and whirled some corn tortillas in my food processor and put them in as well. It worked!

If you want, you can do crazy things like put cheese or sour cream in here, but it's fabulous just as it is, with a few wedges of avocado on top.



Tomato Tortilla Soup

3 cups diced onions
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 qt veggie broth
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
2 tsp minced canned chipotles in adobo sauce
1 1/2 cups crumbled corn tortilla chips
salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot on medium heat, cook the onions in the oil for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the cumin and oregano and stir for a minute. Add the broth, tomatoes, and chipotles, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Pulverize the tortilla chips in a blender. Add about 3 cups of the hot soup to the blender and puree until smooth. To make pouring easier, add another cup of hot soup and whirl on low speed. Stir the puree in to the simmering soup pot. Serve hot.

Yields 9 cups.