Tomatillo Soup

I just got my new Better Homes and Gardens Magazine (November 2010) in the mail yesterday.  Flipping through it, I found this $400 prize-winning recipe.  (Click HERE for the $200 prize-winning soup.)  It's actually called Tomatillo Chicken Soup but since I didn't add the chicken I thought that word had to go.  I substituted two cans of Great Northern Beans for the 1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breast halves.  This is made in the crock pot and my goodness, does it ever smell delicious!  So easy and such good flavor!  I also substituted vegetable broth for chicken broth.  (Great prices on boxes of vegetable broth at Aldi right now!  I also got a bag of red, yellow, and orange peppers for under $2.  If you haven't been to Aldi yet, people...GO!)  The original recipe called for 1 tsp. each of salt and pepper but I thought that seemed like too much.  Sooo glad I halved the amounts.  It still seemed a tad salty to me.  I also thought it seemed too "broth-y" at the end.  I like a little thickness to my soup so I scooped out half of the beans (and of course some of the chopped veggies came, too.) and a little of the broth and blended it in my blender.  Next time I'll probably just blend one of the cans of beans with some broth at the beginning.  I served my soup with these yummy tortillas that were half flour and half corn.  So good!  The taste of corn with the softness of a flour tortilla.  OK, here is the recipe:

Tomatillo Soup

6 medium tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
2 cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 32-oz. box vegetable broth
1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 4-oz. can diced green chiles
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh cilantro
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

Chop three tomatillos.  Place remaining tomatillos in blender.  (And I would add one of the cans of beans here, too.)  Cover; blend until smooth.  In a 3 1/2- or 4-quart crock pot combine pureed and chopped tomatillos, beans, broth, sweet pepper, onion, celery, chiles, cilantro, jalapeño, cumin, lime juice, chili powder, garlic, and salt and pepper.

Cover; cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  (Can be cooked less since we're not cooking chicken here.)  Top with chopped red sweet pepper, jalapeño peppers, snipped cilantro, warm tortillas and/or tortilla chips.  Makes 4-6 servings.