A few days ago we actually had some nice fall like weather that got me in the mood to make some soup. This weather is so odd…soup in August, who would have thought??? Anyway, I wanted something that wasn’t too hearty that I could add something with and we wouldn’t feel overloaded with food. I was looking through recipes and magazines when I came accross one at Food Network that looked pretty good, fall like and not too heavy.
Also we were having my hubby’s mother over, and it was a work day, so I wanted something that was going to be good and taste great but didn’t take forever. I didn’t want us to be sitting down to eat at 9:00. Since I’m a big fan of salsa this recipe jumped out at me; what a great idea to make a soup out of one of my favorite appetizer dishes. It was so simple to throw together and it’s one of those, just like my salsa recipe, that can be moderated to accomodate any temperature for people who do like spicey and then those that don’t care too much for it. It’s also great left over and could be a great base for another type of soup later on in the week; just add some hamburger meat or beef chunks and it would be a great beef stew recipe.
The quesadillas that went with this recipe were really good. I could have had the whole meal be meatless but my hubby thinks that a meal without meat it just incomplete. When I was at the store I bought one of those rotisserrie chickens and pulled some meat off and put it in one of the double layers of the quesadillas. It turned out so good and the quesadilla recipe would be great on it’s own.
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 Jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 Large onion, chopped
3 Ribs celery, chopped
3 Cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and Pepper
1 (28oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 Can crushed tomatoes
2 Cups veggie/chicken stock
3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley
6 Flour torillas (6-8in)
1 Cup shredded cheddar
3 Scallions- chopped
4 oz brick Pepper Jack- shredded
Sour Cream
***Use recipe for Avacodo Smash under the tags of appetizers or veggies***
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons evoo, jalapenos, bell pepper, onion, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper then saute veggies for 5 minutes, add tomatoes, crushed tomoatoes, and stock and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to a simmer and add cilantro.
Brush one side of tortilla with oil, place next to one another, oiled side down on large cookie sheet. MIx cheddar with scallions and divide cheese evenly among tortillas. Top with another toritilla and top each with pepper jack cheese (and chicken if desired). Set last tortilla on top and brush with evoo. Cook 10 minutes in oven to melt cheese and crisp tortillas. Let cool then cut each quesadilla into 6 pieces.
Top soup with sour cream and avocado smash.
Adapted from Food Network per Rachael Ray
That meal looks delicious! I've been on a Tex Mex kick lately and so this is something I'll need to try soon!