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Friday, December 13, 2024 76° Today's Paper


Crave

Tortilla soup is extra quick, filling comfort food

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A bowl of 10-minute tortilla soup based off a recipe by Melissa d’Arabian.

While most of my recipes are weeknight-friendly — that’s simply how I cook with four kiddos to feed — I decided to create recipes that were extra quick for those nights when even a half hour seems impossible to find.

Today’s recipe is one of the dinners that came from this project. Ten-Minute Tortilla Soup is filling comfort food that I feel good about serving my family. It’s simple but tasty, and my kids love it.

I’ll caveat the 10 minutes by saying that the dinner does take advantage of some prepared items, such as purchased salsa, canned black beans and leftover chicken. But these are healthy pantry staples that you probably have on hand, and have a long shelf-life, including the chicken: Freezing chicken leftovers or rotisserie chicken is an excellent habit for weeknight cooks anyway. Use ground beef or another meat instead, if that’s what you have.

Whatever you choose, I promise you this: It will be quick.

TEN-MINUTE TORTILLA SOUP

  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 4 corn tortillas (5-inch diameter), cut into quarters
  • 1/2 cup prepared mild (or medium) red salsa
  • 1/4 cup prepared mild (or medium) green salsa
  • 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
  • 1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and drained if canned
  • 1 cup shredded or cubed cooked chicken
  • 1/4 cup plain lowfat Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup shredded Jack cheese
  • 1 tablespoon pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or other seeds or crushed tortilla chips
  • Fresh cilantro for garnish, if desired

Heat broth and tortillas in saucepan over medium-high. Simmer 1-2 minutes to soften tortillas.

Pour mixture into blender; add salsas and lime juice. Very carefully blend mixture until smooth, about 1 minute. (Do not fill blender more than halfway with hot liquids and do not cover blender completely; use a kitchen towel to help.)

Pour mixture back into pan, add beans and chicken; reheat another 2 minutes on medium-high.

Pour soup into 4 bowls; top with yogurt, cheese, pepitas and cilantro. Serves 4.

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Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 241 calories, 5 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 37 mg cholesterol, 415 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 22 g protein.

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