This Year's Halloween Costume...

Oh the sweet vegan irony...

Soup Season, I Want to Snog Your Face Off!!!

Right now, I have some sort of bastardy cold-slash-sinus-infection-slash-allergy thing going on, courtesy of the sudden chilly weather. And yet, I still blissfully proclaim: I LOVE YOU, FALL! Hoodies and crunchy leaves and autumn clouds and snuggling with the cats under mounds of blankets and stumbling across a bit of romance and car rides through the metroparks and Halloween and zombie flicks and soup soup and more soup. How can you not love fall?

So, to ring in these first few days of chilly, keep-your-windows-closed-and-snuggle-up-under-blankets-while-reading-The-Exorcist-and-watching-horror-movies weather, I whipped up the Ceci-Roasted Red Pepper Soup from Appetite for Reduction. It is beautifully autumnal in color and will fill your house with the delicious warming aroma of roasting red peppers. The flavors will also definitely please; it's a very aromatic recipe, despite the rather simple assortment of ingredients. And it makes for a fantastic soup for dipping bread. My only complaint is that I find rosemary and/or thyme in soup to be a slightly misguided choice. I love the flavor, but I absolutely hate picking tiny pieces of woody spices out of my teeth, especially in an otherwise velvety soup. I even tried chopping up the rosemary, but still: a bit too woody.

Nonetheless, it's a good recipe and an easy one, and it will definitely bring a smile to your autumnal pallet. Unfortunately no one has posted the recipe online quite yet, so for now, you'll have to track down the cookbook to try it out. But I promise you, it's worth spending the $10/$15 bucks on it. Promise.

Tortilla Soup!

Soup makes for pretty much the most boring photos ever, so I've added a nice rack for your viewing pleasure.

As for the soup itself, damn damn damn good. And super duper easy. Definitely don't skimp on the lime juice 'cause it adds a little bit of extra loveliness to it. Definitely has me excited for soup weather, that is for sure. And thanks to Jilly Bean for the recipe recommendation!


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 t. olive oil


• 1 small onion, sliced thinly


• 2 jalapeños, seeded and sliced thinly


• 1 poblano pepper or green bell pepper, seeded, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces


• 4 cloves garlic, minced


• 1/4 t. red pepper flakes, optional


• 1 t. salt


• 1 (24-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained


• 1 (24-ounce) can vegetable broth


• 1 T. ground cumin


• 4 ounces gluten-free baked tortilla chips (about 2 cups), divided (or just regular old tortilla chips)


• 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 c. frozen corn


• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish


• Juice from 1 lime


• Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place oil in a 4-quart pot and sauté onions, jalapeños and poblano pepper over medium-high heat until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. (Add a little more oil or broth if needed.) Add garlic, red pepper flakes and salt and sauté for another minute.

Break up tomatoes with your fingers and add them to the pot, including the juice. Fill the tomato can with vegetable broth and add to the pot. Stir in the cumin.

Crush half the chips into crumbs (some bigger pieces are okay) and add to the pot. Cover and bring soup to a boil. Then lower heat to a simmer.

Add beans, corn and cilantro and let simmer for 5 more minutes. Add lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt to taste.

Ladle soup into serving bowls. Crumble remaining tortilla chips over the top and garnish with cilantro.

(Recipe originally from Appetite for Reduction, reposted at Living Without)