This rustic soup is laden with beans, vegetables, and cheese. A chunky version of the typically smooth tortilla soup, it doesn’t require any traditional soup stock; the tomato juice and sweet corn cobs make a rich broth full of the fresh, south-of-the-border tastes of summertime. Read about incorporating heirloom beans into dishes like this one on the opposite page.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2
Cut the tortillas in half, then into 1/2-inch strips. Place the strips in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, then spread them on the baking sheet. Bake until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
Step 3
Position a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Core and halve the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds, holding them over the strainer so all of the juice falls into the bowl. Press the seeds with a ladle to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the seeds and set the juice aside. Dice the tomatoes.
Step 4
Heat a soup pot and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until soft, then stir in the tomatoes, black beans, corn kernels, garlic, and chile powder. Add the tomato juice, 3 cups water, and corn cobs. If your pot is small, break the cobs in half so they fit. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove the corn cobs. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 5
Serve the soup topped with several tortilla strips, 1/4 cup queso fresco, a few avocado slices, and a small handful of cilantro. Serve the lime and jalapeño slices on the side.
heirloom beans
Step 6
Look for heirloom beans to substitute for all kinds of beans in Chunky Tortilla Soup and other recipes. In Mexican cooking, most of us are familiar only with pinto and black beans, but there are countless varieties of beans indigenous to the Americas that are as easy to prepare and often better tasting, not to mention fresher than the beans on supermarket shelves, which can be several years old.
Step 7
We no longer have easy access to heirloom beans, since the advent of centralized agriculture means that it became more profitable to sell a small number of beans that look uniform and have high yields. But the beans most easily available to us are not necessarily the best tasting. Savory Mexican beans that you may not have heard of include Vallartas, Negro Criollo de Hidalgos, and Ayote Morados (Purple Runners). You can find heirloom beans online. There are several purveyors and organizations dedicated to preserving heirlooms listed in the Resources section (page 193), or find them in specialty food stores and at farmers’ markets. If we create a demand for them, these largely forgotten treasures will come back to the market and flourish. If you have a garden, try planting some at home.
