Tex-Mex night!!

This tortilla soup is one I’ve made for years, but with chicken broth, and served with a lot of cheddar cheese. We tried that Daiya cheddar, UGH it was disgusting, so we were fine just omitting it. (sad face) However, we found this new chicken-like substitute – that’s made from pea protein – it’s gluten free and vegan, like the holy grail of fake chicken. It’s pretty decent; not exact, but as close as I’ve been able to find. It went well in this soup! And we’ll try it out in things like our chicken Caesar wraps. I find it’s better *in* things rather than being a focus of a meal. It’s called “Beyond Meat” Chicken-free strips, and we found it at Whole Foods.

Anyway, back to the soup! We had this with a nice side salad with an avocado/cilantro/lime dressing. A pretty perfect meal!

• 2 T vegetable oil
• 4 corn tortillas, chopped into about 1/2″ pieces
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T cilantro, chopped
• 1 small to medium yellow onion, pureed in the food processor
• 28oz can crushed tomatoes (or whole tomatoes that you puree in the food processor)
• 1 small (4oz?) can tomato paste
• 1 T cumin
• 2 t chili powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 qt vegetable broth
• 2+ t salt (to taste)
• 1 t cayenne pepper (to taste)
• a few strips of fake chicken, chopped
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 3 corn tortillas, cut into strips and either baked crisp or fried (or store-bought tortilla chips, gently crushed into large pieces)

In a large soup pot, heat the oil. When hot, add the tortillas. When softened, add the garlic and cilantro, and heat through for about 2-3 minutes. Add the onion puree and the tomato paste – stir and cook a couple minutes. Add the tomato puree, cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, vegetable broth, salt, and cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook about 20-30 minutes. Skim the surface every now and then to get rid of the tomato foam stuff. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Put the chicken and avocado in a bowl and top with the soup. Garnish with the crispy tortilla strips. This one reheats really well, so make a full batch!