Warm Those Frozen Bones

Did you guys know that the "bomb cyclone" is apparently a thing? A thing that is due to bring horrendously cold weather and general misery to large parts of our fair country next week. UGH. I feel like winter just ended and I'm 100% not ready to face another several months of frozen toes. Luckily, today's Tortilla Soup is a perfect remedy to darkness and freezing rain!

The only thing better than the warm, complex flavors of this soup is how easy it is to make. While it does require a bit of chopping, there's nothing tricky about the recipe and it only takes about 30 minutes to come together. Toppings aren't just advisable here - they're pretty much mandatory. Customize your bowl with lots of goodies and pretend you're somewhere sunny and warm, far from a world where below-freezing temperatures exist!

Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Minimalist Baker and Oh She Glows

Serves 6

For the soup:
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 onion, diced
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 Anaheim peppers, chopped (you can also sub 1 bell pepper here!)
1 jalapeno, chopped
12 ounces tomato paste
1 cup salsa
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 cup corn
2 cans black beans, drained
1 avocado, cut into cubes
olive oil to coat your pot
salt and pepper to taste

For the garnish:
chopped cilantro
avocado slices
tortilla chips
lime juice
crushed red pepper
plain coconut milk yogurt

Pour a little olive oil into a large pot over medium heat, and toss in the garlic and onion. Toast these smelly little guys up until the onion starts to turn translucent - make sure you don't crank up the heat too high so that the garlic doesn't burn. Add the cumin and chili powder, stir for 30 seconds so that the spices all stick to those garlicky onions, then add the Anaheim peppers and the jalapeno and saute for another 2 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir until it evenly coats all your veggies, then pour in the salsa, veggie broth, and water. Turn the heat up a little bit to medium-high and cover the pot so that your soup comes to a rolling boil. In the meantime, prep your garnishes!

A study in green.

Once the soup is boiling, toss in the corn and black beans. Lower the heat to medium again and let all this simmer for 5 minutes. Do a quick taste test on a piece of Anaheim pepper - it should be nice and soft. Add salt and pepper to your little heart's desire. Once you're satisfied with your soup's spice level, throw in the cubed avocado, turn off the heat, and cover the pot until you're ready to eat. Pile on the cilantro, avocado, tortilla chips, lime, red pepper, and yogurt, and enjoy this hearty, warming meal!

Beet It

Apparently the polar vortex is coming back with a vengeance next week and this time I won't be smugly observing from sunny California, which means it's high time to cook up a big pot soup! I'm going through some holiday withdrawals, so I decided to make a quintessential Polish Christmas dish: barszcz, or beet soup.

Little known fact - most Eastern European governments will revoke your citizenship if you don't show enough enthusiasm for beets. And for good reason! These little root vegetables have a sweet, earthy taste, and are loaded with fiber, potassium, and iron. Dwight Schrute loves beets. Doug Funny loves beets. There's no way around it - beets are just great.

Barszcz is reaaaally easy to make. The hardest part is probably peeling the beets, which has the potential to make your kitchen look like a crime scene. The only other thing you absolutely MUST remember is that you can't boil this soup again after you add the vinegar. Otherwise, black magic/chemistry will happen and your soup will turn a really unappetizing shade of brown. You can reheat if necessary, but bubbles are a sign of trouble so proceed with caution.

Polish Barszcz
(from my mother's mental cookbook)

Serves 2

4-6 medium beets
1 box vegetable stock (about 4 cups)
1 cup whole parsley
salt, pepper, sugar, and white wine vinegar to taste

Peel your beets. I recommend doing this over the sink, or using a plastic cutting board that you can easily rinse off. If you end up with Lady Macbeth hands, rub a little lemon juice into your skin and then wash with cool water and lots of soap.

Note the technicolor fingers.

Toss your beets into a pot, add the vegetable stock and parsley, and boil over medium-high until you can easily pierce the beets with a fork. Add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste, then turn off the heat and add a little vinegar. I used about 1 teaspoon, but it depends on how sour you like your soup.

Steamy!

Voila! Your barszcz is done. You can pour your soup into mugs and serve it as a side dish with roasted potatoes and tempeh, or channel your inner Slavic farmer and enjoy a bowl of barszcz with a big hunk of rye bread for lunch. As a bonus, you can also scoop the beets out and save them for later - they're delicious in arugula salad with some balsamic vinaigrette, or grated and tossed with salt and lemon juice.