BEAN AND TORTILLA SOUP

Makes 4 servings

With its Tex-Mex flavors, this medium-bodied soup has as much (or as

little) heat as you’d like and a generous propensity for add-ins. It’s based on

broth — either store-bought or the liquid you get from cooking a bag of

beans (see bean basics) — tomatoes (canned diced fire-roasted, if possible),

vegetables and chiles: fresh jalapeños, adobo sauce from canned chipotle

chiles and chile powder. If you want to toss in a big pinch of Old Bay, do; it’s

definitely not Tex-Mex, but it’s got enough cayenne to fit right in with the

other capsicums.

Satisfying on its own sipped out of a mug, the soup is even better when

you pile on other ingredients. I like to hold back some of the raw onion and

red bell pepper and scatter them over the soup, along with beans, cut-up

avocado, a handful of cilantro, shredded cheese, dollops of sour cream or

yogurt and scrunched and crumbled tortilla chips (sometimes hot and spicy

and sometimes plain). The last touch is a couple of squeezes of fresh lime

juice.

The soup is good all through the year and especially good in summer,

when it’s fun to add some fresh corn.

If you decide to cook beans from scratch, choose either pintos or blackeyed

peas and then you’ll have the broth and some of the beans for this soup

and the rest of them for Cowboy Caviar.

For the soup

1 large Spanish or Vidalia onion, chopped, rinsed and patted dry

1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

1½ tablespoons olive oil

2 carrots, peeled, trimmed and thinly sliced

¼ to ½ jalapeño, seeded and chopped

2 garlic cloves, germ removed (see sidebar) and chopped

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Pinch of sugar

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon chile powder, or to taste

1 teaspoon adobo sauce (from canned chipotles; add half a chipotle, if you’d like)

Pinch of Old Bay seasoning

4 cups (960 ml) vegetable, chicken or bean broth (bean basics)

One 15-ounce (425-gram) can diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted, with their

juice

For the add-ins

1½ cups (246 grams) cooked (see bean basics) or canned beans, such as pinto beans,

black-eyed peas or red kidney beans, drained and rinsed if canned

4 to 6 tablespoons sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

1 to 2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

Chopped onion and red bell pepper, reserved from soup

Shredded cheese, such as cheddar or Monterey Jack

Chopped fresh cilantro

1 to 2 limes, cut into wedges

Tortilla chips (spiced or plain)

Hot sauce (optional)

WOR K I NG A H E A D

The soup — minus the add-ins — can be made ahead and kept covered in the

refrigerator for up to 4 days or packed airtight and frozen for up to 2 months.

TO M A K E T H E S O U P : Measure out ¼ cup each of the onion and red pepper

and set aside, covered, until serving time. Pour the oil into a Dutch oven or

large saucepan and warm over low heat. Add the remaining onion and

pepper, the carrots, jalapeño and garlic, season with the salt and sugar and

cook, stirring now and then, for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are

softened but not colored.

Stir in the cumin, chile powder, adobo (and chipotle, if you’re using it) and

Old Bay and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in the broth and canned

tomatoes with their juice, stir and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so that the

soup simmers gently but steadily and cook for 20 minutes. Taste the soup

and adjust the seasonings as you’d like. Remove from the heat. (The soup can

be made up to this point and refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 2

months.)

F O R T H E A D D - I N S : Put some beans in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle over

the soup and top with sour cream or yogurt, avocado, the reserved onion and

bell pepper, some cheese and a generous amount of cilantro. Pass the lime

wedges and tortilla chips, or squeeze over some lime juice and break some

chips into each serving. You might want to have some hot sauce within

reach.