Pretend I became world-famous, say for convincing former president George W. Bush to go vegan which led to him renouncing his war mongering past and convincing all the republicans to go vegan. Eventually, terms were argued, legislation was passed, and everyone realized that animal cruelty was wrong and they wanted to thank me for starting the chain of events that led to animal liberation by having a wonderful dinner. I think they would come up with something exactly like this. I love Mexican food, dumplings, and soups; they are three of my most favorite things to eat. But my relationship with olives is paramount. I mean, I keep an emergency olive at all times. Maybe when I am world-famous everyone will!
Last week I made Black Bean Soup with Masa Dumpling. I really liked the idea of it, but the dumplings were a little boring. I wanted to put something inside them that was salty or spicy and all these ideas were rattling around my head. And then it hit me, as usual, the answer to my culinary quandary was olives, in this case, jalapeño stuffed olives. I liked the dumplings in the black bean soup I made, but it seemed like they would go better with something else. Tofu Mom put them in Lentil Stew which seemed like a good idea but since the dumplings were so thick I thought a thin soup would be better. That is when I realized that tortilla soup was the perfect answer! This is the first time I ever made it. Usually, it is the one vegan soup that I can always find so I never thought to make it at home. I should have made it sooner, I liked my version a lot better than Mr. Natural’s and Kerbey Lanes and it was really fast and easy. I also made a lot so we would have leftovers. I wrote down the recipe but there are two caveats, there was extreme olive going on in here. If you are not a fan you could try just the pickled jalapeño which I think would work out well. I didn’t make the broth very spicy since there is jalapeño in the dumplings and it was spicy enough for me. If you love spice, add a couple jalapeños to the broth early on, the more seeds you leave in the spicier it will be.
Mix
1 Cup of Instant Masa Flour
1 Cup of Broth or water
1 Tablespoon of salt if using water
knead for 5 minutes and then let sit for an hour
Roast 1 Poblano in the oven or on the stove, then remove the charred skin, seeds, and stem
Chop 1 yellow onion, 4 cloves of garlic, and 2 carrots.
Heat 1 Tablespoon cooking oil in a soup pot
Saute onion, garlic & carrots until brown, about 5 minutes
Add a cup of Corn, the poblano, 1 Tablespoon of ancho chile powder, and 1 tsp cumin
Stir for a minute and add 8 cups of broth, 1 tsp of celery salt, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/8 tsp cayenne, 2 cups of soy curls (or beans) and 1 14oz can of tomatoes, roughly chopped
Cook for 10 minutes
Form the dumplings, take about a heaping tablespoon of the masa dough and flatten in your hand. Put the olive in the middle and roll the sides around it until the olive is all sealed up. Then, carefully roll the dough a little between your hands so that it is a circle and then place in the soup. Repeat until you have used all the dough. Then carefully stir the soup making sure to not tear the dumplings and cook for 10 more minutes. Add salt & pepper. Serve in bowls and top with green onions, cilantro, and nutritional yeast, if you like. Enjoy!