Fiesta Vegetable Soup, Ribs Optional

As I’ve stated before, I love making soups in my crock pot. I also love Mexican food (living less than an hour from Mexico will do that to a person) so I decided to give a “Latin” spin on my usual vegetable soup. By adding spices typical to Mexican cuisine (or Americanized Mexican, whatever), I was able to create a light, flavorful soup slightly reminiscent of one of my favorite dishes, chicken tortilla soup (minus the chicken). One of my coworkers tried my soup and said it reminded her of the soup she used to get at a Mexican restaurant in her hometown. She’s from Sacramento but I’ll still take the compliment.

This soup is low cal and fat-free, so it’s a great starter to a meal. I kinda screwed up the health factor by serving the soup alongside leftover BBQ ribs we had from Mitch’s birthday dinner at his mom’s house. I debated making tofu instead, but I knew my tofu would keep and I’m trying really really hard not to waste food—which was actually one of the main reasons I made this soup in the first place!

Fiesta Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 carrot, chopped
• 4-5 stalks celery, chopped (include inner leaves)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 cups cabbage, chopped (3/4 medium head)
• 2 cups beet greens (or chard or kale or none of the above), chopped
• 1 can (14 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
• 4 cups water, veggie broth, or combination
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste, optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2-3 healthy dashes hot sauce (I recommend Tapatio if you can find it)
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• To serve: toasted/crumbled corn tortillas, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients, except for cilantro and garnishes, in a crock pot.
2. Cook on low for ~8 hours.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Stir in cilantro about 10 minutes prior to serving.
4. That’s it! If you don’t have a crock pot, go get one! But if you want to make this first, you can bring all the ingredients to a boil in a stockpot, then reduce heat to low and simmer until vegetables are tender.
5. Serve as desired. I like to crumble in the tortilla pieces so they get soft and the corn flavor permeates the whole soup.
6. Makes…a lot. I’d say 8 small servings or 6 large ones.

In Other News:

Look what I got!

I won a contest held by The Healthy Hostess and my package came today. In addition to this cool fruit basket, I got a coupon to try the new Banana Nut Cheerios, a nice loaf pan, and a couple of cereal/oatmeal bowls that perfectly held this morning’s breakfast (banana/almond milk/cinnamon oats).

P.S. I actually keep most of my fruit in the fridge, or at least I used to. The avocados and the bananas were just what I grabbed to test out/show off my new toy.

Speaking of contests, Sarah is hosting an awesome Bob’s Red Mill Giveaway at Tales of Expansion.

I’m off to clean the place a little before Mitch gets home from school. Tomorrow’s his birthday (April Fool’s Baby!) so it’s the least I can do. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but um…I’m kinda messy and he is very, very neat. So I’m really trying to keep the condo clean because a) a clean place looks better than a cluttered one, even I can admit that, b) I have to prove to him I CAN actually clean, every once in awhile, and c) if I don’t pitch in, I’ll hear about it! I know I’m lucky because most woman can’t get their guys to pick up anything and I live with Mr. Clean. Talk about a role reversal.

Better get to it! (Ugh…maybe I’ll check emails first…)