More Post-Yoga Comfort Food

I hadn't really planned on writing again about the food I eat after yoga.  But as I stepped out of my yoga class tonight into the crisp Fall air and felt the chill on my bare legs, I was instantly brought back to a pretty common scenario back home in Texas.  I felt the same feeling I used to get when walking with my mom to On the Border (Tex Mex restaurant) to get tortilla soup.  

For a long time I ordered tortilla soup every time we went to this restaurant. {And that was sometimes a couple of times a week} But once I became vegetarian I couldn't order the tortilla soup anymore.  

I'm not sure exactly what triggered this memory.  Perhaps it was the cold air on my legs, like I used to feel when I insisted on wearing shorts even though the Texas air had turned chilly (you know, like, in January).  Maybe those intense side extensions tapped into some memory stored in my solar plexus chakra.  Or maybe, just maybe, it was the tortilla factory that is across the street from the yoga class.

It was instantaneous:  I NEEDED tortilla soup.  Hot steaming tomatoey broth with tons of onions and spicy peppers.  Crispy fried tortilla strips.  Cool avocado chunks.  Oh. Yes.

Tortilla Soup

Serves 3

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

2 large tomatoes, peeled

3 cups water

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 chile (I used a dried Aji Cereza chile without the seeds)

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1 avocado

3 corn tortillas 

canola oil for frying 

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan.  Add sliced onions and fry until onions are lightly browned.  Add tomatoes, chile, tomato paste, water, cumin, salt, and lime juice.  Reduce heat so soup is simmering.  

Meanwhile, heat 1/4 inch of canola oil in a skillet.  Cut torillas into thin strips.  When the oil sizzles around a tortilla strip, it is ready for frying.  Add the strips to the oil in batches and fry until lightly browned.  Rescue them from the oil and let them drain on a paper towel.  I like to sprinkle them with salt.  

Cut the avocado into slices or chunks.  Taste the soup- if it has been simmering about 10-15 minutes then the onions should be tender.  

Assemble bowls with soup, avocado, and tortilla strips.  Enjoy!