Green Chile Soup
When we hauled our sailboat to Florida (sailboats are not meant for interstate travel… it was a terrible idea, albeit the best option at the time for getting where we wanted to go, and somehow it worked out ok even though we replaced 5 of the 6 trailer tires on the journey) we encountered a few foods along the way which were entirely new to us & oh so delicious. This Green Chile Soup recipe is adapted from the ingredient list at a truck stop diner in New Mexico serving up a fiery hot spicy version of the stuff - delicious but too scorching for my taste buds. Nevertheless it was terrific flavor & we were thrilled when the waitress palmed the almost frustratingly simple list of ingredients to us after we raved about it & appealed for the recipe. With no quantities and only “salt & pepper” listed as seasoning, this is what we put together when we arrived back home:
2-3 Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
3-4 green chiles (or pasilla peppers, which we bought mistakenly for the first batch and have found we really like for this soup), seeds & pith removed (keep a few for some heat), chopped
2 small yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 can of cooked beans (we use “beans for chili” …any kind of pinto, navy, or black been)
8 cups chicken broth
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp dry cilantro (or more fresh)
1 or 2 tsp taco seasoning
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt to taste
pepper 1/2 tsp
One lime, cut into wedges
Optional - powdered garlic 2 tsp
Optional - chopped cooked bacon (the bagged bacon crumbles worked out well). 2-4T
Optional - sour cream or plain yogurt to top it
Optional - cheese to top it
Directions:
Add the broth & chopped potatoes to a big soup pot or the crock pot.
Cook the ground beef along with the taco seasoning in a frying pan on medium or hotter heat, letting it brown a bit and sear/stick to the pan, throw in a half cup (give or take) of water to loosen it & cook until the water is gone (repeat the water step if you want it more brown/firm). Add the cooked beef to the soup.
In the same pan the beef was cooked in, add the chopped onions with some olive oil and let them soften & get a little golden, Low-medium heat. When the onions are basically ready, add the chopped garlic for 1-3 minutes until it softens (might nudge the heat down). Add onions & garlic to the soup.
Add the beans & the chopped chiles or peppers to the soup, and the rest of the seasoning adjusting for your taste (if your cilantro is fresh, hold some to go in at the end. If you have hot chiles maybe skip the cayenne. More seeds/pith will make a spicy (er) soup. Add the bacon if you like. When the potatoes are cooked the soup is ready. It can slow cook all day or overnight in the crock pot & the peppers will just have less body. Scoop into bowls and add a spoonful (or more, if it’s really spicy) of sour cream or yogurt of desired, a sprinkle of cheese & a squeeze of lime.
Enjoy!