One of the many new creative dishes i've made since being home started out as Mexican Tortilla Soup...however, i don't like to stick to recipes (unless it's for cookies) and i gave it my own twist...the first time i made it, it was gone in one night...and i made a whole pot of it! my mom had thirds, so did my dad :)
so, here's my "Rainbow Soup" as we named it...mostly because of the color combinations you'll have in it
Okay:
please tailor this to your own preference for beans and veggies...you know what you like so add it in there!
Red:
-2 medium Red potatoes (diced)
-1 can of Original Rotel tomato's
-1 can of Mild Rotel tomato's
-1 large can of petite diced tomato's
-2 small Red sweet bell peppers (1/2 large bell pepper)
-1 can of Dark or Light Red Kidney Beans
Orange:
-1 large carrot chopped (2 small/10 baby)
-2 small Orange sweet bell peppers (1/2 large bell pepper)
Yellow:
-1/2 cup of Yellow Onion (if you like yellow over white/purple/green)
-2 small Yellow sweet bell peppers (1/2 large bell pepper)
-1 can of Yellow sweet corn or 1 cup
Green:
-1 cup of celery
-1/2 cup of Green Onion
-if you want a southern flair to it, add some Collard Greens
-you can also add green bell peppers if you haven't had enough peppers already!
-or for some kick, add jalapeno's
Purple:
-2 cups Purple Cabbage ( i haven't add this yet, but was gonna at some point)
Brown:
- 1 can of Pinto Beans
Black:
- 1 can of Black Beans
Grey:
-1 lb of ground beef/turkey or chopped chicken (optional for the vegetarian version)
White:
-2 cloves of garlic
-1/2 cup of White onion (if you didn't use Yellow/Green)
Use the juice from canned tomatoes ( or if you've diced them yourself, add 1 can of tomato sauce).
Drain the beans and corn and turkey.
Add all ingredients into a large pot (seriously, go as big as you got, you want room for everything to move around).
Add five cups of vegetable or chicken stock
Seasonings:
here's where you have fun with it...
Cumin-season your meat with it and your soup (i like the taste of it, season as much or as little as you like)
Chili Powder-use to season the meat and add some about half way to give a kick
Adobo Powder-Goya makes the best, it's a spice rack staple; use to preference
Paprika- i just like the color and slight hint of this in the soup and it gives the stock a nice red color
Garlic Powder- use it...even if you've tossed the garlic cloves in
Salt-a pinch or two (just enough to compliment the other flavors, you don't want a sodium taste to the dish)
Pepper-a pinch or two, but not a ton cause you've got plenty of spicy kickin' stuff in here
Cook:
turn your burner onto the lowest setting. leave you pot on there for a few hours. it's done when the potatoes aren't crunchy and the celery has a hint of a crunch in it still...
trust me... the smell of it simmering alone will drive you nuts, so stick the lid on for about 30 minutes and then take it off so it can breathe...
serve it over rice if you're going vegetarian with it...you want ur protein!
Any chef will tell you this: have fun when you're cooking...
here's my advice: put some music on- the kind you can move to...take ur shoes off...and taste everything as you go along...add stuff to the soup, take stuff out...customize it to ur family likes...
it's great any time of year really
most importantly: always add a cup of love to everything you do :)
...enjoy!
bethany
