Green Chile Soup

Last summer I decided to venture out to New Mexico. While not much was there that I would ever return for, there is one thing that I can say would prompt me to go back again: green chile. Oh. my. gosh. SO good. And thus a sick and twisted addiction began where any bit of mexican food tasted empty and tarnished without green chile in there somewhere. Breakfast burritos and even subway sandwiches became victims in my uncontrollable need for chiles. I was clean for a little while, but I have come back for more.

So, on a serious note, I usually do thicker more stew like variations of a green chile soup/stew. This time, however, I used less chile and added in a few other spices for variety. I thought it turned out pretty good, and a heated tortilla was the perfect companion. Here are the ingredients:

In soup pan:

3 cups warm water
2 tbsp of chicken boullion
3 russet potatoes, diced
1/2 can of black beans, drained
1/2 can of kidney beans, drained
1 can of green chiles
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 tsp gound cumin
jalepenos to taste
cabbage to taste

the great thing about soup is so long as you get the spices right, you can pretty much to everything to taste. I managed to burn my tongue, won't lie, but it turned out good. Next time I think I will stick with more green chiles, but it wasn't a failed attempt by any means.

Enchilada casserole

No meat, no cheese, no deliciousness? Even I find it hard to imagine a world where mexican food sans it's two most delicious ingredients can even be remotely successful. Flavorless, low fat, boring....le tear. Alas, I have found a way to create a guilt-free {Guilt in the sense that none of our farm animal friends were tortured to make this meal delicious} way to create enchiladas that even managed to satisfy one of my cheese-loving best friends.

So the tortillas I used were flour tortillas, but corn tortillas would work really well too, to make this recipe both gluten free and vegan. I oiled the pan with some olive oil, pre-heating the oven to 375. I tore two tortillas into 4 pieces, covering the bottom of the dish. Then I added a mixture of black bean, pinto bean, onions and green chile to the top of the the tortilla. Keep the layer sort of thin, because you want to add another layer soon. Repeat with the tortilla, then add the other half of the bean mix and cover with tortilla once more. For the final step I added a bit of green enchilada sauce, baked for about 30 minutes and topped with salsa. It turned out good! No meat, no cheese, no joke ;-)

ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 small can of green chiles
1/2 chopped onion
1 can green enchilada sauce
4 large tortillas
salse- to taste. I would also recomment adding guacamole to it, basically because guacamole makes everything taste good.