Tortilla Soup is a fun family soup because each serving is assembled in the bowl. Chips, grated cheese, avocado chunks and cilantro are stacked in the dish, then a ladle full of soup brings everything together. This version with its bright orange chunks of dark red sweet potatoes – the kind often called yams – is so colorful that it’s sure to brighten someone’s day. Homemade turkey broth is so rich that it gels in the refrigerator; if it’s unavailable, try enriching store-bought chicken broth with unflavored gelatin. If you don’t have any cooked turkey on hand, consider using canned turkey meat; it sounds bizarre but it contains only turkey, water and salt and is great to have on hand.

(Makes 6 generous servings)

For the soup:

2 tablespoons corn or canola oil

1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium-sized red bell pepper, seeded and cut into julienne strips

2 large poblano chilies or medium-sized green bell peppers
3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large matchsticks

2 tablespoons New Mexico style chili powder

6 cups turkey or chicken broth, preferably homemade
2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin, optional
2 cups cooked turkey meat, cut or torn into 1-inch pieces

2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste

For the garnish:
Crisp, restaurant-style tortilla chips, to taste

4 ounces Queso Fresco, crumbled or Monterey Jack cheese, grated

1 medium avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice 

Several sprigs fresh cilantro, to taste

1 lime, cut into wedges

1.) In a large, heavy soup pot over medium-high heat, warm the oil and sauté the onion slices with the red and green peppers until the onion is softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sweet potato matchsticks and sauté about one minutes longer.

2.) Stir in the chili powder, then the chicken broth and if the broth is not homemade, stir in the gelatin, if bring the soup to a full rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered until the sweet potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

3.) Meanwhile, prepare the garnishes. Pile a few tortilla chips in the bottom of each serving bowl and put the rest in a separate bowl to be passed when the soup is served. Distribute the grated cheese and the avocado cubes evenly in little mounds in the center of each serving bowl, and plant sprigs of cilantro on top of the mounds.

4.) At the moment that everyone is ready to eat, ladle the hot soup over the garnishes in the bowls. Pass lime wedges and extra tortilla strips separately.

Copyright, Greg Atkinson, 2006