Thursday, October 7, 2010

CEIMB: Tomato-Tortilla Soup


This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was Tomato-Tortilla Soup, chosen by Mary over at Popsicles and Sandy Feet. I remember making this soup last winter and loving it, but I never blogged about it. I think it's probably just because I was so bad at blogging back then, and not because this soup wasn't memorable! In fact, it was a very welcome repeat here at my house.



I just adore the simplicity of this meal. Just saute some onions, then add garlic and cumin. Throw in your jalapeno, two cans of diced tomatoes (I used one can of regular and one can of tomatoes with diced green chiles), and a carton of chicken broth, along with some dried oregano. Let it simmer for a brief period, then you're ready to blend it!


This was my favorite part. Since the last time I made this, I've acquired an immersion blender (thanks, K and E!) and I am a bit obsessed with it. It makes such quick work of pureeing a soup, among other things! Best of all, with this soup you're able to make it as chunky or as smooth as you'd like it to be. I opted for almost completely smooth; that's just my personal preference.




To finish off this soup, you remove it from the heat and add some lime juice. Then, you can top if off with some fresh cilantro and sour cream, as well as corn tortilla strips that have been baked until crispy in the oven. I love the corn tortilla strips! I had to make twice as many just to have enough for the soup; we all kept snacking on them before the soup was ready. I added some scallion tops and fresh lime zest to the garnish; I think it just added a little something extra special.




My husband went for his soup with sour cream, and I left mine without it. (That's why at the top of my post you see one bowl of soup all decked out, and then this last picture above is my sour cream-less version.) My hubby also had a grilled cheese alongside his, which he said was fantastic dipped in the soup. My son drank his through a straw, so whichever way you choose to ingest this soup, it's spicy and warming, tangy and tart, and just plain awesome.


Thanks to Mary for choosing this; I'm so glad I was able to revisit this, and give it the proper blog love it deserves! You can check out the full recipe on Food Network's website, here. And don't forget to check the CEIMB blogroll for everybody else's results!

9 comments:

  1. Yumm-EEE!
    I like to leave just a few chunks of tomato for texture.

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  2. Still chuckling about your son drinking his through a straw. Kids have so much fun with food sometimes. We should probably act more like them!! Your soup looks so good. I have not had a chance to make it yet, but might tonight.

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  3. The color of your soup is lighter than mine and I like it. My husband did not go for the sour cream but I did.

    I am off to blog mine before I leave for work.

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  4. Gosh, so many ways to drink/sip/eat this soup! Each one just as fun as the next. I'm never had soup through a straw before...that sounds fun to me for some reason, especially for kids. Your soup looks great, and a great write-up on it all. This will be a frequent guest at our house during soup season.

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  5. I will be making this soup over and over again!!

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  6. Scallions would have been perfect on top of this. Now, why didn't I think of that.

    The immersion blender is such a great gadget. Mine drowned. Looking for a new one. What do you have?

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  7. I am so glad you liked this too. I love to imagine your child drinking soup through a straw...so cute :). I need to get an immersion blender at some point!

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  8. What a creative way to eat the soup, through a straw! My friend and I were just talking about those Campbell's "soup at hand" cups that are made for drinking. Quite convenient, actually.

    So, I have to ask, what kind of immersion blender do you have? I have one that came as a set, with like a mini food processor/chopper, whisk, etc. Each piece is an attachment on a wand. It was pretty inexpensive and is several years old now. I love the other attachments, but actually ended up throwing the immersion blender part out just a couple weeks ago because it never worked for me. No matter how much liquid was in a container or how big or small the container was, the blender would just splash up the liquid everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. After a couple times of being burned by spewing hot liquids, I decided to just toss it out and really thought all immersion blender would be like that. But maybe it's just because mine was a cheapo model?? It would definitely be more convenient than trying to pour scalding hot soup from a large pot into a narrow blender!!

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  9. Love your immersion blender! I am addicted to mine too. Both bowls of your tomato~tortilla soup look delicious with the floating tortilla strips, fresh herbs, and spices. Your hubby's with the sour cream has a gorgeous color contrast and I am glad my hubby didn't see the grilled cheese sandwich half you have in the background. I would be in the kitchen making them if he knew =).

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