Food: Turkey Tortilla Soup

So, can you still call it tortilla soup if you make it sans tortillas? Either way, I had to come up with something to use up at least a little of our Thanksgiving leftovers. The soup was so simple to make, and so flavorful-- a bit spicy, even. Here's what I did: I heated up a pot at medium heat on the stove, then sauteed about half of a chopped onion (plus ~1 Tbsp. minced garlic) in butter. After the onion was translucent, I added 4 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup of hominy, about 1 cup of shredded turkey, 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, 1-2 Tbsp. of diced jalapenos, some salt, and 1-2 tsp. cumin. Then, the secret ingredient: a packet of dry enchilada mix. You could have used the wet enchilada sauce in the can, but my pantry is sadly lacking and the dry mix was all I had available. I let all of that simmer for about half an hour, then added about 1/3 cup chopped cilantro and about 1/4 cup milk.

Side note: You may have noticed the number of times I say "about" in this recipe; that's because so much of what I do while cooking involves just eyeing the measurements and making do with what I have in the cupboard or fridge. It would be great to have every ingredient necessary at all times, but that's more of a "Someday..." type of scenario. For right now, our motto is MAKE DO!-- and make it good.

Anyhow: After about 5 minutes, just long enough to heat everything through and make sure the flavors were melding, I took the soup off the stove and served it with shredded cheese and some more fresh cilantro on top, plus a generous squeeze of lime. It was so delicious! Spicy, kind of creamy, and full of the earthy warmth only tomato-based sauces seem to impart to a dish. I can't wait to try it with maybe a green and a red enchilada sauce, this time the liquid kind, and some additional toppings: crunchy tortilla strips, avocado slices, sour cream. I'm salivating already!