Soulwarmer soup

I have been eating soup lately. Not some salty, canned nastiness, but real soup. I used to make it for Marcie and me, and now I make it to feed me for days at a time. It's healthy, relatively light and wonderfully nutritious. I thought I would share the recipe.

The newest incarnation of the soup is heavy on the chiles, but they are not very hot chiles, so don't shy away yet... Also, remember that soup recipes can be modified to remove what you don't want. But don't change the base, if you can avoid it. It's delicious.

-The base-
1 cup water
1 cup tomatillo, sliced and steamed until done (about 5-7 minutes)
1/2 cup pan-wilted white onion slivers (chunks okay, too)
1 Anaheim chile (very mild), charred and peeled, then sliced into pieces
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped or processed to small chunks
optional:
2 tablespoons ground, dried chipotle
1 tablespoon cayenne
or (milder):
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 package of "Soyrizo" vegetarian chorizo replacement
Salt and pepper to taste (I use no salt)
1 tsp sage
1 pinch of mesquite salt if available (or flavor to taste)

Mix these ingredients to start your base, then let the whole thing simmer in a big pot of water while you add your ingredients.

The recommended ingredients

1/2 pound mushrooms
3-4 sliced potatoes in large chunks
1/2 bunch kale
1-2 cups beans (pinto, black or kidney, perhaps all of them)
1/4 pound green beans
6 stalks celery, cut into 1" pieces
1 red onion, chopped into large chunks
1 poblano pepper, roasted or charred then peeled and sliced into strips
1 serrano pepper, roasted or charred then peeled and chopped (substitute green bell for milder palates)
1 red bell pepper, sliced

Once the base is simmering, add the vegetables a bit at a time, stirring everything as it cooks and adding water to keep the ingredients covered. after all the ingredients are in, let it simmer, bubbling lightly, for about two hours.

If you are lucky and patient, you will end up with something like this, including the heavily spattered stovetop:


Enjoy. Tomorrow, perhaps I will share some pictures of places we lived.

Night, folks. F.