Comfort food on a rainy night

I have very distinct memories from my childhood of Campbell's Tomato Soup. In our house it was almost always served with grilled cheese sandwiches and a sleeve of Saltine crackers. I even remember my dad teaching me how to crumble the crackers into the bowl. It took me a while to figure out what my perfect ratio of crackers:soup was. Too many crackers and you have a bunch of mush. Not enough crackers and you miss out on the mouth feel of soggy soup crackers. It's a balance.

When I came across a recipe for Tomato-Tortilla Soup in Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave I knew I had to try it. Tonight was the perfect night. The weeone is at her dad's for the weekend (she's not the biggest soup fan) and it's raining in Houston. The kind of rain that makes the air smell hot and sweet and like summer....I love it. Rain = Soup. You should learn that in kindergarten I think. =) Oh, and I had just about all the ingredients on hand, because rain also = not driving to the store!

Ellie's recipe calls for making your own baked tortilla strips, but I skipped this step since I had an opened bag of baked tortilla chips that needed to be used up. I also didn't have a jalapeno on hand so in place of it I added some tomatillo salsa that I did have to give it the needed heat. I skipped the sour cream on top since I'm dairy-free girl for now as well.

The recipe came together quickly, easily and is absolutely GREAT! I will definitely make this again...even for the weeone. And I might have to make her a grilled cheese to go along with it.

Tomato-Tortilla Soup
from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave

• 2 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans no salt added diced tomatoes. with juice
  
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush both sides of each tortilla with oil, using 1 tablespoon of the oil. Cut the tortillas in half, then cut each half into 1/4-inch wide strips. Arrange the strips on a baking sheet, sprinkle with the salt, and bake until crisp and golden, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 teaspoons of oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic, jalapeno, cumin, and oregano and cook for 1 minute more. Add the broth and tomatoes, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice.

Remove the pan from the heat and puree with an immersion blender or in 2 batches in a regular blender until the soup lightens in color but chunks of tomato remain, about 30 seconds. Serve the soup topped with the tortilla strips, a dollop of sour cream, and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Per Serving (2 cups: Yield 4 servings):

Calories 270; Total Fat 10g (Sat Fat 2g, Mono Fat 3.5g, Poly Fat 2g); Protein 9g; Carb 36g; Fiber 4g; Cholesterol 8mg; Sodium 335mg