Tortilla Stew

Let's start with the 800 lb gorilla in the room, yes it has been a while since I have posted. A long while. A lot has happened since my last post, but I'll give you the short story. I met someone, we got married, and then we got unmarried. I've learned a lot in this time, but I think that what I have really taken out of the horrible, brutal, soul destroying, heart breaking process of getting divorced is that one should marry for money and not for love. Money may not buy happiness, but it sure can buy a lot of sneakers and a lot of vacations. And those sneakers aren't going to come home one day and tell you they "don't think they can be married anymore". 

If you're looking for a less cynical lesson, I've also learned to not lose too much of yourself in a relationship. I stopped doing so much of the things I loved and now I'm finding myself again, which is what's prompting my return here. Getting divorced also opened the door for me to do something I have always wanted to do, which is move close to the ocean. I'm on the west coast now, and it's so unbelievable to me that I'm a 20 minute drive to the ocean from my apartment. Even after working 14 hours for the fourth day in a row, I can still drive home from work and think that I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to live somewhere so beautiful. 

Now the stew. This is loosely based off Chrissy Teigen's vegetable tortilla stew from her Cravings cookbook. I have taken it, and adapted it a little. Like she adds cooked rice at the end, but I save myself from cleaning an extra pot and add dry rice while the stew is cooking.She also fries her tortilla strips, and I do not. Her recipe says you can add cojita cheese to it, so I took some time today to find a Mexican grocery store as I can't find cojita at Save On. Turns out, I live pretty close to a Latin grocery store so I picked up some tortillas and what I am fairly certain is cojita. 

Check out that stack of tortillas. You know how much that cost me? $5. FIVE DOLLARS. It pleases my Dutch heart to no end that I normally pay $5 for 12 small tortillas and today I got 100. FOR FIVE DOLLARS. 

My Italian canned tomatoes. Some loons will tell you that you can use diced tomatoes in the recipe, and you can, no one will stop you. But I am here to tell you that canned whole plum tomatoes are the way to go. And blend them up! Don't leave gross tomato chunks in your soups or stews or sauces. Blend them smooth and then add them. 

Side bar. I will not allow anyone to be using "restaurant pepper" in my recipes. You can only use freshly ground pepper or I will be very upset with you. Also use sea salt. Table salt is only good for putting on ice on the sidewalk. 

Rebekah's Tortilla Stew

makes about 8 servings

Ingredients

Olive oil, salt & pepper

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

5 or 6 cloves or garlic, minced

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

some paprika

some cayenne pepper

15 oz can of red kidney beans

15 oz can of black beans

28 oz can Italian whole plum tomatoes, blended until smooth

4 cups chicken broth (reduced sodium) 

2/3 cup dried rice

3/4 cup corn kernels (frozen or cut off an ear of corn. not canned. love yourself)

optional: cojita cheese, grated cheddar cheese, diced avocado, lime wedges

for the tortilla strips

12 small white corn tortillas from a Mexican grocery store. They're super cheap, and SO MUCH BETTER than the normal grocery store ones. 

lime zest from two limes

1) preheat oven to 425. line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. 

2) in a big sauce pot heat some oil on med high. Like an amount of oil that you think is normal to saute some onions in. Once the oil is heated, add the onion, jalapeno and bell peppers. Saute for a few minutes until it smells so good and the onions are soft. Add the garlic. Saute for a minute. Add the cumin, chili powder, paprika and cayenne, along with 2 tsp or so of salt and some fresh ground pepper. 

3) add the blended tomatoes, beans and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then set the burner to low and let the stew simmer for about 10 minutes. 

4) add the dry rice then simmer for about 15 more minutes until the rice is cooked

5) add the corn and let simmer until the corn is warmed through. A minute or two. 

6) serve with some cheese on top, some diced avocado and the tortilla strips

Tortilla strips:

1) cut the tortillas into thin strips

2) in a bowl toss the strips with oil. Season liberally with salt

3) spread out strips onto the baking sheet and put in the oven

4) bake for about 10-15 minutes, stirring them at least once, until they are crispy and golden

5) take out of the oven a toss with lime zest and a bit more salt

My take: I've made about 3 variations of this in the last few weeks, and I think I'm close to perfecting it. This is seriously so tasty.