Everyone in my house, except me, is sick. I feel fine. *knock wood* Thankfully, my boys are old enough that I can leave them home with Beer Geek, even in his “I feel like crap” state. Otherwise, I think my head would explode if I couldn’t leave the house.
How am I staying healthy? Well, first, I ran 6 lovely miles today. I hit my planned pace exactly, despite a few wicked hills. I love being back to the point that 6 miles is relatively easy.
Also, winter has returned, so I’m making my famous vegetarian tortilla soup. Since I’m such a wonderful, generous person, I’m going to share that with you. Now, I’m off to the grocery store to help Jones earn a part of his Bear badge. Please think positive thoughts for me. Also? I am out of nuun and that constitues an emergency around here.
VEGETARIAN TORTILLA SOUP
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3/4 c. chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. chili powder
5 c. vegetable broth
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 cans diced tomatoes with chilis
2/3 c. canned black beans, rinsed, drained
2/3 c. chopped zucchini
frozen corn
Tortilla chips
grated cheese (optional)
avocado (optional)
hot sauce (optional)
Spray large nonstick saucepan with vegetable oil spray. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium-low heat until almost tender, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cumin and chili powder.
Add broth, diced tomatoes and 2 tbsp. cilantro. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer until flavors blend, about 15 minutes.
(I put it in a 4 quart crock pot instead of the above step. After about an hour, I added the below ingredients.)
Add beans and whatever amount of frozen corn looks good. Cover and cook on high in crock pot for two hours or 4-8 hours on low. If not using a crock pot, add zucchini at this point as well. Cover and simmer until zucchini is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. If using a crock pot, add zucchini about an hour before serving or precook the zucchini.
Ladle soup into bowls. I put out bowls of cheddar cheese, cilantro, avocado, and tortilla chips so that people can add in whatever they want. This is a very forgiving recipe and ingredients can be tweaked to make it fit your needs (for example, sometimes I add chicken or use chicken broth, sometimes I add hominy, sometimes I add more or less spices. I never make it the same way twice and it’s always been awesome.) Ingredients can easily be increased to fill a 6 quart crock pot.
So awesome that you're back to a hard 6 miles feeling awesome. Hope you can avoid the plague!
avocado = NOT optional! lol, recipe looks great!
Boo on the crud–isn't this your family's second go of it this winter? I hope you escape it!The soup sounds great.
ooooo!! that soup sounds awesome! I am in dire need of soup. I finally got the bug and it SUCKS! Its a doozy too. I will cross my fingers and toes that you don't get it.Thanks for the recipe!
I think staying in shape and eating well has much to do with not getting sick. Since I have started running, I very rarely get sick.
The soup sounds great! My husband made cauliflower soup last night…yum 🙂
Good luck avoiding getting sick; it always seems inevitable when everyone in the house has it!
The soup sounds great, and perfect for your house full of sickies. Stay healthy!!
UM, i'm coming over for soup! yum!
You read my mind! I've been wanting to make a soup to heat up for lunch this week as we're heading back into the -20C zone.Jealous of you 6 miles!
That soup sounds delicious. It's a pity it's not soup weather here.
holy. freaking. yum.thatsoupsoundsamazing.Avocado —– the freaking best.
oh man that sounds really delicious!! i love finding a new twist on a recipe