My new favorite, Tortilla Soup. Spicy, chunky and full of flavor hits the spot every time.

Recently, while at my library, I came across a cookbook called “Thug Kitchen, eat like you give a f*ck”. Have you guys heard of it? It is such a hilarious read. I can’t say I use too much profanity in my everyday life and the book is well, full of it. I read a part of it to my husband and we both had a good laugh. Seriously, try reading it out loud with a kinda serious voice.

The book is also full of amazing vegetarian recipes. What I like is that the dishes didn’t make me think I was eating some weird things or semi tasty combinations. I felt that I was eating a very good dish that happened to be meatless. I made 3 different things and we liked them all. So, I’m pretty sure I will be ordering the book some time soon.

Today’s recipe is a modified version of Thug Kitchen’s Tortilla Soup. It is a very flavorful and quite spicy soup. It has jalapeno pepper, chili powder and cumin that create the bold flavor. I like to balance the sourness of all of my tomato based dishes with some honey. If you are not sure about the level of spiciness you can tolerate, start with maybe 1/2 teaspoon or less of the chili powder. I like to add a dollop of yogurt to take the edge off.

You start the soup by chopping all of the vegetables into similar size pieces. Then you saute them for a couple of minutes, add the spices so they can bloom ( become fragrant when cooked in a bit of oil), add a veggie broth and simmer for 15-20 minutes. At the end of simmering you need to add chopped tortillas and cook another 5 minutes or so. Carefully transfer the hot soup into a blender and process  for 30 seconds or so. It should be a bit chunky, at least this is how I like it. Return the soup to the pot, adjust seasonings and add some fire roasted corn. Serve with crushed chips, yogurt, avocado or chickpeas (this is Thug Kitchen’s suggestion).

Serves: 6      Prep time: 15 minutes         Ready in: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed (if desired), diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tablespoon lime juice
• 5 corn tortillas, cut into small pieces
• 1-2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup fire roasted corn

Garnish with: fire roasted corn, diced avocado, yogurt, cilantro, crushed tortilla chips.

Directions:

1. Chop onion into a small dice. Heat up a large pot, add coconut oil and saute the onion for about 3-4 minutes.
2. Dice carrot, bell pepper and zucchini ( all vegetables should be chopped into a similar size pieces). Add them into a pot. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Remove the seeds from jalapeno pepper and dice it. Mince the garlic. Add into the pot and stir well.
4. Add chili powder, cumin, dried oregano into the pot and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add tomatoes, vegetable broth, tomato sauce and salt. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.
5. Add freshly squeezed lime juice and tortilla pieces. Cook another 5 minutes.
6. Carefully transfer the soup into a blender (or use an immersion blender) and process it for about 30 seconds. If you like smooth consistency add another 30 seconds or so. Return the soup into a pot. Bring to boil.
7. Add honey, corn and adjust the seasonings. Add more salt, lime juice, honey, chili powder if needed.
8. Serve with crushed tortilla chips, dollop of yogurt, avocado and fire roasted corn.

Enjoy!

Adapted from “Thug Kitchen, eat like you give a f*ck” the official cookbook.