By February 2020. The early weeks of the year that were strange twelve months ago are now just: the year we live in, the world we're in, the version of normal we've all adjusted to. The workshops are fully outdoor now or online, and both have stabilized into real routines. The Provo pantry resumed in a modified form — smaller groups, more space, Debra's organizational brilliance making it work.
I got an email this week from a literary agent. She'd found the channel and wanted to talk about whether I'd ever considered a book. Not a standard recipe collection — she was specifically interested in a memoir-adjacent cookbook, a book about feeding people through difficulty, about the kitchen as a place of repair. She used the word "memoir-adjacent" three times in the email. I read it four times.
I told Gary and he said, "Obviously you should talk to her." I said, "It's a huge thing." He said, "So is what you've been doing for four years. You know how to do huge things." That's the truest thing he could have said.
I emailed the agent back. Her name is Susan Park. We scheduled a call for Friday.
Meanwhile: chicken tortilla soup this week because it's cold and comfort is called for and the family would eat this soup on any occasion, any weather, any version of the world. I posted a video of it. The comments were full of people making it in real time, texting me photos of their pots. All those kitchens. All that soup. All that warmth moving outward from mine.
The week Susan Park’s email arrived — that quiet, enormous email — I didn’t want anything elaborate in the kitchen. I wanted the soup my family would eat on any occasion, in any version of the world, the one that fills the house with the smell of something right. This vegan tortilla soup is it: smoky, bright, deeply satisfying, and easy enough to make while your mind is still somewhere else, still reading a four-line email for the fourth time. I posted the video and watched the comments light up with people lifting lids off their own pots, and for a little while the book and the agent and the enormousness of it all just dissolved into the warmth of all those kitchens going at once.
Vegan Tortilla Soup
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz) can corn kernels, drained
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup salsa (medium or hot)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- Tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips, for serving
- Optional toppings: sliced avocado, vegan sour cream, pickled jalapeños, lime wedges
Instructions
- Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeño, and bell pepper and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Bloom the spices. Add the cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne (if using). Stir to coat the vegetables and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Build the soup. Add the black beans, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, corn, vegetable broth, and salsa. Stir to combine and season with salt.
- Simmer. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes to let the flavors meld.
- Finish and adjust. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning — more salt, more lime, more heat as needed.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls and top generously with tortilla strips and any additional toppings you like. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 46g | Fiber: 11g | Sodium: 820mg