Eat Voraciously: Seeking green

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Here's what's for dinner tonight.

A terracotta bowl of soup with beans and shredded chicken visible in the broth. Fried tortilla strips, crumbled cheese, crema, cilantro sprigs and onion slices garnish the top. There are lime wedges in a small bowl on the top right of the image, and the corner of a napkin on the top left. A hand is dipping a spoon into the soup.

Tortilla Soup Verde.

By G. Daniela Galarza

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Seeking green

Happy Thursday, all. Winter's cloudy days make me want to hibernate in bed, but I will continue to resist the urge. Instead, this weekend, I'll try to make it out for a long walk in Rock Creek Park. I'll also make a big pot of this Tortilla Soup Verde, a new recipe I came up with to help keep winter's chill away.

Get today's recipe

Over the December holidays, a good friend was going to visit family in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I asked her whether she'd have Christmas enchiladas on Christmas, and she looked a little confused. "I mean Christmas-style, you know?" I tried to clarify. "Red and green sauce?" She got me. We shared fond memories of various Southwestern dishes doused in melted cheese and lush, chile-scented sauces, rojo or verde.

It reminded me of the verde I miss. It's too early to be daydreaming about spring, but here I am, wistfully imagining tight green buds on the barren tree branches outside my living room window. I wish I could conjure them into existence. The oaks are sleeping, I remind myself. Every living thing needs rest. I turn to the kitchen.

There may not be any green outside my window, but there can be something green on my stovetop. This was my motivation when I started tinkering with a new spin on tortilla soup. Every version of tortilla soup that I've eaten, whether in Mexico or Santa Fe or Dallas or Los Angeles or Chicago or Washington, has been thickened with tortillas and topped with many delicious things, usually: raw onion (sliced or diced), fresh herbs, crema, cheese (crumbled or shredded), fresh chiles (sliced and pickled or not), avocado, and always crunchy tortilla strips or chips. It has also been colored red, thanks to a broth built on tomatoes and chiles, usually pasilla, chipotle, guajillo and/or ancho. But I love using tomatillos and fresh green chiles in dishes such as Enchiladas Suizas and pozole verde, so I thought: Why not try them as a base for tortilla soup?

We don't know exactly who first thought to put corn tortillas into a soup, but it was probably the inventors of the corn tortilla. Consequently, many Mexican cooks call tortilla soup sopa Azteca. Maybe the Aztecs preferred the color red for soup, but I don't think anyone knows for sure. What I do know is that it has been made in many different ways for many, many years.

To make this version, I pulled an old bag of corn tortillas out of my fridge. They were dry and brittle. I sliced them into strips and fried them in some vegetable oil. Some of these would eventually go into the soup itself, and some would be reserved for garnish.

Then, I stole an idea from myself. Just as I did for my Enchiladas Suizas, I decided to skip making homemade salsa verde and instead relied on store-bought. There are plenty of decent brands out there. Look for a Mexican-style salsa verde that includes tomatillos, at least one type of green chile (usually poblano, jalapeño or serrano) and cilantro. Although you can always make your own — and certainly, if you have time, do — in this case, you might not notice much of a difference.

After the fried tortilla strips come out of the pot, the salsa verde goes in to cook in that same hot oil. The shock of heat wakes up the green chiles and concentrates the fruity-sour tomatillo flavor. Chicken broth goes in next, along with the stems of half a bunch of cilantro. (Of course, if you have an aversion to cilantro, you can skip this.) I also added some baby spinach here because I had it, and because it's so innocuous, flavor-wise, but contains a heavy dose of chlorophyll to up that verde factor. Finally, most of the tortilla strips go back into the pot. Let it all simmer so the flavors can meld before pureeing until smooth. Next, stir in some cooked and shredded or diced chicken and two cans of white beans. Let that simmer for a few more minutes, taste and adjust the seasoning, and you're ready to serve.

To make this meatless, use vegetable broth and skip the chicken. To make it meatier, use another cup and a half of chicken and skip the beans.

Tortilla soup, no matter how you make it, is much improved by its toppings. At the very least, those fried tortilla strips should garnish each bowl. I'd never skip the raw onion; I love its bracing bite. I'm also a fan of the fresh cilantro sprigs, though parsley and mint are also nice complements. Crema or sour cream is a welcome cooling element, but cheese (crumbled or shredded) or even plain yogurt (regular or dairy-free) can do the same job. If you love heat, add slices of serrano or a few pieces of pickled jalapeño. The squeeze of lime at the end is a nice little reminder that it's good to be green.


	Today's Recipe

Frying tortilla strips in the same pot that will be used to make the soup.

Frying the tortilla strips. (Photos by Lauren Bulbin/The Washington Post; food styling by Carolyn Robb)

Tortilla Soup Verde

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

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Storage: Refrigerate without the garnishes for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Servings: 6 to 8 (makes 10 cups)
Total time: 35 mins

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
Six (6-inch) corn tortillas, preferably stale, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
Fine salt
One (16-ounce) jar salsa verde, such as Herdez brand (see tips, below)
1/2 cup water
4 cups chicken broth, preferably low-sodium
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (about 1 1/2 ounces total)
2 cups (2 ounces) baby spinach, roughly torn or chopped (optional)
3 cups cooked chicken (about 15 ounces), shredded or diced
Two (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added white beans, such as navy or Great Northern, and their liquid
1/2 cup Mexican-style crema or sour cream, for serving
Thin slices of white or yellow onion, for serving (optional)
1/4 cup (2 ounces) crumbled cotija cheese (optional)
Lime wedges, for serving

Steps

1. Line a large plate with a paper towel or tea towel.

2. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the tortillas and fry, using tongs to toss frequently until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the towel-lined plate, sprinkle with salt and let drain.

3. Carefully pour the salsa verde into the same pot with the remaining oil, standing back in case it sputters or splashes. Add the water to the salsa jar, cover and shake to dislodge any residual salsa, then add it to the pot. Stir in the chicken broth, and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom and sides of the pot. Tear or cut the thick stems from the cilantro, and add them to the pot. (Reserve the leaves for garnish.) Stir in the spinach, if using. Reserve 1 generous handful of fried tortilla strips and add the rest to the pot.

4. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a lively simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tortillas soften and the flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Taste, and season with salt, if desired.

5. Remove from the heat, and use an immersion blender to puree the soup to your desired consistency. (Or, working in batches, as needed, transfer the soup to a blender. Fill the blender no more than halfway, and be sure to remove the center ring from the lid and hold a kitchen towel over the lid as you blend to prevent splatters. Return the pureed soup to the pot.)

6. Return the pot to medium-high heat. Stir in the chicken and beans, along with their liquid. Bring the soup just to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the flavors meld, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

7. Divide the soup among bowls and serve hot, garnished with the crema, the onion and cotija cheese, if using, the reserved tortilla strips and cilantro leaves, and lime wedges on the side, for squeezing over.

From staff writer G. Daniela Galarza. Tested by G. Daniela Galarza.

Nutrition information per serving (1 1/4 cups), based on 8: Calories: 366; Total Fat: 18 g; Saturated Fat: 3 g; Carbohydrates: 36 g; Sodium: 887 mg; Cholesterol: 26 mg; Protein: 16 g; Dietary Fiber: 7 g; Sugar: 3 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas:

Instead of frying tortillas >> you can use store-bought tortilla chips or strips.
Instead of store-bought salsa verde >> you can make your own.
Chicken broth >> vegetable broth.
If you dislike cilantro >> omit it. (Note: Most store-bought salsa verde contains cilantro.)
Canned beans >> 3 cups home-cooked beans, with some of their cooking liquid.
To make this vegan >> use vegetable broth, omit the chicken and cheese (or use nondairy cheese), and use nondairy crema or sour cream.

Catch up on this week's Eat Voraciously recipes:
Monday: 30-Minute Wedding Soup
Tuesday: Chicken Breasts in Creamy Tomato Sauce
Wednesday: Salmon and Egg Scramble
More recipes from Eat Voraciously

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