There are so many different things you can do with just a few ingredients if one of them is fire roasted green chile. Yum, I love this time of year. This soup only took about 30 minutes to make. Although that was after hours of peeling freshly roasted chiles (see previous post). Well worth it though, no doubt.
My next two or three recipes will most likely include green chile and simply be different mixtures of the same ingredients. That’s what’s so nice about Mexican food – same stuff, different combinations. Makes for quick, easy, and healthy meals. Of course, that’s once the roasting, peeling, and prepping of the chiles is finished. It may be time consuming, but it only happens once a year during chile harvest time, so I’m not complaining. Plus, everything smells SO good!
what you need
*Bake 4 or 5 organic russet baking potatoes. I always bake a few extras for whatever might strike my fancy the next day. Tomorrow it will probably be twice baked potatoes topped with . . . what else? Green chile.
*Always use organic products if available. They’re healthier and usually taste better.
•2 just-baked russet potatoes
•1 cup roasted and diced chicken (to make it easy I buy the already roasted chicken from Whole Foods or Wild Oats)
•several roasted, peeled, and chopped green chiles (6 to 10)
•2 cups organic “Imagine” chicken broth (gluten-free)
•1 cup water
•2 tablespoons oil
•1/3 cup chopped onion
•2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
•1 can pinto beans
•1 small diced tomato
•2 teaspoons of Los Chileros ground New Mexico chile (mild, medium, or hot)
•1 teaspoon cumin
•sea salt and ground pepper to taste
*Add any other seasonings you think might taste good. This is just a framework for making green chile soup. I don’t have a “real” recipe for any of the green chile dishes I make – it depends on what I have on hand. Other good additions might be a little fresh lime juice, chopped cilantro, a pinch of brown sugar or a teaspoon of agave honey, or even a pinch of Spanish saffron. You could also add corn to the mix. Be creative.
what you do
•Sauté onion in large soup pot on medium/low heat for 3 - 5 minutes, add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes
•Add 1 and 1/2 cup chicken broth to the pot, turn on low heat
•Add diced chicken and beans to the pot
•place the other 1/2 cup broth and 1 cup water into a blender and add 1/2 of one of the baked potatoes (chopped and with skin); add the fresh diced tomato; add the cumin and ground New Mexico chile and puree until fully blended (it should have a gravy consistency)
•pour blended mixture into the soup pot, stir
•add the chopped green chiles (the fresh roasted and peeled ones)
•chop the rest of the already-baked potatoes and add to the soup (1 and 1/2 potatoes; you can leave the skins on or not – once they’re baked it’s fairly easy to chop them and remove the skin at the same time)
•salt and pepper to taste
•cook over low heat for at least a half an hour and serve with diced tomatoes and avocados on top (you can also serve with shredded cheese if you’re okay with dairy products)
Enjoy!
