Ironman Soup

I grew up in the desert southwest where the food has a lot of Mexican influence. I remember my father buying huge burlap bags of green chilies and roasting them outside over mesquite. Us kids would peel them and bag them for the freezer and we would have delicious green chilies all winter.

My hispanic friends seemed to all have large extended families and as I grew old enough to notice such things I realized that they all drank, smoked, and ate constantly yet the granparents were all spry. Rare was a heart attack, and cancer was unheard of.

More recent nutritional information suggests that the large amounts of onion, garlic and green chilies in their diets (and mine) probably have a lot to do with that. So I use a lot of these ingredients, and much of my food has Mexican influence.

So this soup is not for the faint of heart, but it is good for your heart. And, if you don't mind a bit of heat, it is delicious. (If you do, use canned green chilies instead.) I call it Ironman Soup because its all you need to ward off a cold.

Ironman Soup

1TBSP olive oil
1 small to medium onion diced
5 mushrooms sliced
2 roasted green chilies, peeled and seeded and chopped.(or a can of them if fresh are unavailable. )
4 roasted garlic cloves chopped
1/4 cup of dry navy beans
2 diced carrots
2 diced potatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 32 oz box vegetable broth
1 small can of hominy with juice
pinch of parsley, italian seasoning, thyme, and a bay leaf.

In a large saucepan saute' the onions and mushrooms in the olive oil until the onions are soft and translucent. Don't let them caramelize. Add the broth, and all the rest of the ingredients. Make sure the broth covers all the ingredients, if not add some water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low or medium low to simmer. Cook 3-4 hours checking periodically to make sure there is enough liquid. Add water if needed. Soup is done when navy beans are soft. Remove the bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste.

This soup is very flavorful and has a lot of texture. It goes great with most breads, but my favorite is cornbread.

A staple of my cooking: Roasted Garlic

Since learning how to roast my own garlic I have become something of a fanatic. It tastes so much better. Milder and more flavorful at the same time. So I rarely use regular chopped garlic anymore, I almost always use roasted. It's very simple to do, and you can do a lot at once and keep it in the pantry.

Roasted Garlic

One large head of good quality white garlic.
Olive oil.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Break the head of garlic to separate all of the cloves. Slice the bottom off of each clove and then peel, and put into a small bowl. Once you have them all done, get a square of aluminum foil. Place all of the garlic in the center and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap it envelope style and place into a pan and into the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes.
Take it out to check for doneness, it should be translucent, just barely getting brown. If there is no brownness yet put back in for 10 more minutes.
When its done, cool for 15 minutes and then place into a small jar and cover with more olive oil. Put on a tight lid. This stores well in the pantry in cool weather, in warm weather I refridgerate it.