Southwestern Turkey Soup

Sofia's napkin list is becoming reality. She presented a formal proposal — yes, a thirteen-year-old's formal proposal, typed (she learned to type properly this year), printed, bound in a clear cover — for expanding the bakery menu to include daily lunch specials. The proposal includes: a daily soup rotation (five soups, one per day, served from 11 AM to 2 PM), tortas on our bolillo bread (three varieties: milanesa, ham and cheese, and a vegetarian option), and aguas frescas year-round. The projected additional revenue: eight hundred dollars a month. The required investment: a larger pot (forty dollars), a sandwich board sign for the sidewalk (twenty-five dollars), and her time.

I read the proposal twice. I asked questions. She answered every one. I said: "Where did you learn to write a business proposal?" She said: "YouTube and the library." YouTube and the library. The twin engines of Sofia's education, neither of which costs money, both of which have produced a thirteen-year-old who can write a business proposal that would earn a passing grade in a college business course. I said yes. The yes was inevitable. The yes was decided the moment she bound the proposal in a clear cover.

Diego won second place at the state science fair. Not first — second. He was disappointed for approximately forty-five seconds and then began analyzing the first-place winner's project (a water purification system using UV light) and taking notes on how to improve his own design for next year. He is ten. He lost second place and his response was a competitive analysis. I am raising a machine that learns from defeat, and the machine is also a boy who still sleeps with a stuffed bear named Professor Waffles, and the contradiction is Diego's essence.

I made sopa de tortilla this week — tortilla soup, the classic, with fried tortilla strips and tomato-chile broth and avocado and crema and queso fresco. Tortilla soup will be Monday's soup on the new lunch rotation — Sofia and I decided the lineup: Monday tortilla soup, Tuesday caldo de pollo, Wednesday pozole, Thursday sopa de fideo, Friday menudo. Five soups. Five days. Five reasons to come to the bakery for lunch. The soup rotation launches next week, and Sofia has already designed the sidewalk sign and posted the rotation on Instagram, and the Instagram followers are asking when they can try the Monday soup, and the anticipation is better marketing than any advertisement could be.

The week Sofia handed me her bound, typed, clear-covered proposal, I was already stirring a pot of tortilla soup — the tomato-chile broth bubbling, the fried tortilla strips waiting on the counter — and I thought: this is what Monday smells like. We didn’t have a full recipe card written out for the rotation yet, so in the meantime I leaned on this Southwestern Turkey Soup, which carries the same bold, smoky soul as a classic sopa de tortilla and proved to us that a pot of soup, a sandwich board on the sidewalk, and a thirteen-year-old with a vision are all you really need.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 can (14.5 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) corn kernels, drained
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and black pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
Tortilla strips, sliced avocado, crema, and queso fresco for serving

Instructions

Brown the turkey. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey and cook, breaking it apart, until no pink remains, about 6–8 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Build the base. Add onion to the pot and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and jalapeño and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Add the chiles and spices. Stir in the green chiles, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and oregano. Cook 1–2 minutes to bloom the spices.
Add liquids and vegetables. Pour in the fire-roasted tomatoes, black beans, corn, and chicken broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
Simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until flavors meld and broth deepens in color.
Finish with lime. Remove from heat and stir in fresh lime juice. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or chili powder as needed.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips, sliced avocado, a drizzle of crema, and a crumble of queso fresco.

Nutrition (per serving)

Southwestern Turkey Soup — The Monday Soup That Started It All