By The lunch expansion launched this week and it is working. Monday's tortilla soup sold twenty-five bowls. Tuesday's caldo de pollo sold thirty. By Wednesday the word had spread — the bakery serves lunch now — and we had a line at noon that I haven't seen since the newspaper article. Sofia was right. (Sofia is always right. This is becoming a pattern that I have accepted the way I accept the sunrise: with certainty and mild annoyance at its reliability.)
The sidewalk sandwich board reads: SOUP OF THE DAY — $4. TORTAS — $6. AGUAS FRESCAS — $3. Simple. Clean. The prices are lower than the restaurants on Montana Avenue and the food is better because the food is Rosa's, and Rosa's food at any price is a bargain.
Isabella is finishing her sophomore year. Straight A's again. AP classes in biology and chemistry. The HOSA club presidency (she was elected — of course she was elected; Isabella doesn't lose elections the way she doesn't lose grades). She graduates high school in two years and she will go to UTEP nursing and she will hold the one-pound babies and she will be extraordinary because she has always been extraordinary and the extraordinary-ness is structural, built into her the way beams are built into bridges, invisible but load-bearing.
I made the daily soups with a focus this week — not just cooking them but perfecting them, calibrating each one for the lunch crowd. The tortilla soup needed more chile (more chile is always the answer; Rosa was right). The caldo de pollo needed more lime. The pozole was perfect (pozole is always perfect; pozole does not require calibration). The sopa de fideo was too thin (more tomato paste). The menudo was menudo — you cannot improve menudo, you can only be worthy of it. The week of soups is a week of adjustments, and the adjustments are the craft, and the craft is what Rosa taught me: not to make food but to listen to food, to hear what the food is telling you, and to adjust.
Camila asked if she could perform at the bakery. She wants a regular slot — Saturday mornings, during the breakfast rush, singing for the customers. I said: "The bakery is not a concert venue." She said: "Every place with an audience is a concert venue." She is six. She just redefined the bakery as a concert venue. I am considering it. I am considering letting my six-year-old daughter sing for customers on Saturday mornings, which is either the best idea or the worst idea, and with Camila, the best and the worst are usually the same idea.
The week of soups taught me something Rosa always said: the best lunch bowl is the one that is ready before the customer changes their mind. This Super Fast Mexican Soup became my secret weapon — all the warmth and chile-forward depth of a slow-simmered pot, but ready in the time it takes Sofia to tell me she was right about something. I made a big pot Wednesday when the noon line appeared and it disappeared faster than I could ladle it.
Super Fast Mexican Soup
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
- 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles (such as Ro-Tel), undrained
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Juice of 1 lime
- Tortilla strips, shredded cheese, sour cream, and fresh cilantro for topping
Instructions
- Brown the beef. In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and diced onion together until the beef is no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Build the broth. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomatoes with green chiles, black beans, corn, and beef broth. Mix well to combine everything in the pot.
- Season. Add the taco seasoning, cumin, and chili powder. Stir thoroughly. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed — and add more chile if you know you should, because more chile is always the answer.
- Simmer. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for 10–12 minutes to let the flavors come together.
- Finish with lime. Squeeze in the lime juice just before serving. Stir and taste once more.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips, shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and fresh cilantro. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 6g | Sodium: 890mg