By The ISFA work continues — another kitchen table this week, another young family with numbers that might work. I sat across from a couple in Jasper County and laid out the grants and watched their faces change from fear to possibility, and the change is the thing I live for now.
Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made Christmas cookies earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.
The cookie season has ended and the soup season has settled in. The kitchen smells like broth and thyme and the slow simmer of food that takes hours and rewards the hours with warmth. Winter cooking is patient cooking. The patience is Marlene's gift. The cooking is mine.
When the story landed on soup season this week — that line about broth and thyme and patient hours rewarded with warmth — I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Sopa de Lima is a Mexican lime chicken soup that asks something of you: a real simmer, a little attention, a willingness to let the kitchen do its slow work. It’s the kind of soup Marlene would have recognized as serious cooking, and it’s become my answer every time the cold settles in and the structure of the week needs something warm at the center of it.
Sopa de Lima
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs)
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 limes (2 juiced, 1 thinly sliced for garnish)
- 1 medium white onion, halved (half left whole, half diced)
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 cloves minced
- 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 2 poblano peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
- Neutral oil, for frying tortilla strips
- Fresh cilantro, avocado slices, and lime wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Build the broth. Add chicken breasts, chicken broth, the halved onion (whole half), halved garlic head, and a pinch of salt to a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 25–30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and tender.
- Shred the chicken. Remove chicken from the broth and set aside to cool slightly. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve and discard solids. Return the clean broth to the pot. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.
- Sauté the aromatics. In a skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the diced onion, poblano strips, and jalapeño. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened. Add the minced garlic, tomatoes, oregano, and cumin. Cook another 3 minutes until fragrant and the tomatoes begin to break down.
- Combine and simmer. Add the sautéed vegetables and shredded chicken to the strained broth. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes to let the flavors meld. Stir in the lime juice, then taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
- Fry the tortilla strips. Pour about 1/2 inch of neutral oil into a small skillet over medium-high heat. When shimmering, fry tortilla strips in batches for 2–3 minutes per batch, turning once, until golden and crisp. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and season lightly with salt.
- Serve. Ladle soup into bowls and top with crispy tortilla strips, fresh cilantro, avocado slices, and a thin lime slice. Serve immediately with extra lime wedges on the side.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 620mg