Soup! In summer! I know. 
BUT, there's a reason for it. Jay takes his lunch most days of the week, and soup just works WELL for heating things up from tupperware, doncha think? Nothing like it.
So this soup. It tastes like enchiladas, has hardly any carbs, and is full of veggies but also huge flavor. And, I use canned enchilada sauce. Judge all you want, but that ish tastes great and has a great consistency and makes this soup super duper easy + quick. You need it in your life! It's a hot food, sure, but it's still cool in some places AND the light texture really makes this feel springish and not heavy at all. So. Warm-weather soup. Its a thing.
You need onion, garlic, zucchini, green pepper, cumin, kale, green enchilada sauce, chicken bouillon, and sour cream. Not a bouillon fan? I don't use it a ton, but I keep it around for when I'm out of stock. If you don't have the little cubes, don't use any extra water and use 1-2 cups of stock. No worries. You could also use veggie stock to make this truly vegetarian. 
So first, like with any veg-based dish, let's prep our veggies and stock. If you're using a bouillon cube, put it in a dish of 2-ish cups of water in the microwave for 2 minutes to let it dissolve. Chop the onion. 
Chop the zucchini and bell pepper. All kind of the same size, and all kind of small, but don't stress about it too much. 
Mince the garlic, too. 
Now, to a soup pot, add a little olive oil, the onion, the bell pepper, and the zucchini over medium-high heat. We want a little sizzle when everything heats up! 
Let the veggies cook for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cumin. 
Now, liquids! Don't worry if the veggies aren't cooked at this point, they'll simmer for a bit longer in the soup. Go ahead and add in the enchilada sauce and some of the bouillon water (start with a cup) or chicken stock. 
Then, add the kale! Let the soup come to a boil and let the kale wilt, then turn the heat down to medium and let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes. 
Right before serving, stir in the sour cream, taste the soup, and add salt if you think it needs it. Notice that we didn't add any extra salt until just now, since the bouillon AND enchilada sauce likely have a lot of salt in them. Proceed with caution! 
Now, serve! You can go nuts and do cilantro, radish, green onion, or anything else on the soup, but I went with just a little extra sour cream and some whole wheat tortillas for dunking, to keep with the mostly-healthy thing we've got going on here. 
And that is your warm-weather soup, perfect for a Monday, perfect for weekday lunches, perfect for anytime a Mexican-but-why-is-it-always-so-heavy craving hits. Try this soon! 
Vegetarian Enchilada Verde Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 medium zucchini chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 28 ounces canned green enchilada sauce
- 1 chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 1 ½ cups water, or 1-2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups chopped fresh kale
- ½ cup sour cream
- salt to taste
- tortillas or tortilla chips for dipping and serving
Instructions
- Heat a soup pot with the olive oil to medium-high heat. Add the onion, zucchini, and pepper and saute for 5 minutes until the veggies start to soften. Add the garlic and the cumin and stir for 2 more minutes. Pour in the enchilada sauce and the stock. Let the soup come to a boil, then stir in the kale and let wilt for 5-10 minutes.
- Stir in the sour cream and taste the soup; add salt if you'd like to.
- Serve with tortillas or chips and extra sour cream, if you'd like. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply