Rosie Makes Tortilla Soup.

After having a taste of the Chicken Tortilla Soup at Ortegaz
the other day, I wanted to do my version of Tortilla Soup.

My ingredients:
homemade chicken consomme thawing in the background
 red onion
 lime
 tomato
avocado
 rice
shaved slices of pork
 (Already cooked, but you could use raw.
Just cook longer when you put it in the soup.)

Oops. Almost forgot the cilantro.

I sliced two tortillas into strips.

Fried the strips.

Drained on paper towels.
And if you like,
you could sprinkle some cumin on the strips while they're still wet.
 Now the next thing I'm doing is cool.
I got an email from my friend Marion this morning
 about fried avocado wedges.

I only needed half of the avocado for my soup
 so I cut the other half into little wedges,
 rolled them in Panko bread crumbs, and fried them.

Fry until golden brown.
 Drain on paper towels.

I heated my consomme to wisping steam and added in a few scoops of rice.

Then the pork went in.
 If you're using raw pork, simmer the soup until pork is done.
 Maybe two or three minutes if you have very thin slivers.

I chopped some red onion, tomato, and cilantro.

'maters go in.

Red onion in.

Cilantro in.

And finally the chopped avocado.
 Do not cook the avocado.
 Turn off the heat and just barely heat through.

Serve with thin slices of lime, fried tortilla strips,
perhaps a sprinkling of cumin, and the fried avocado.

What can I say?
 This is one of those dishes
 which has a whole lot of flavors going on
 and you can taste each flavor separately,
 but all together, you have an awesome synergy
where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Fried avocados have to be the ultimate comfort food.
Creamy, smooth goodness on the inside.
Fried crunchiness on the outside.
I believe endorphins were released.
Avocados are high in calories and fat.
 A single avocado has over 700 calories and over 30 grams of fat.
No wonder they're so damn good.
 Despite the high caloric and fat content,
adding avocado to your diet packs a beneficial punch
 that outweighs the calories and fat.
Avocados contain potassium, folate,
 monosaturated fats and are high in fiber (10 grams).
 Folate is a B vitamin that has been proven
 to prevent serious birth defects for pregnant women.
 Fiber helps to prevent high blood pressure,
 heart disease, and certain types of cancer, particularly colon cancer.
Avocados also contain lots of potassium
(30% more potassium than a banana).
Potassium is beneficial by lowering
the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and cancer.
The monosaturated fats contain oleic acid
 which has been found to improve fat levels
 in the body and can help control diabetes.
 By having avocado as their primary source of fat in the diet,
diabetes sufferers can lower their triglycerides by up to 20%.
 In addition, the monosaturated fats in avocados
are good for lowering cholesterol.
Also a low fat diet containing avocados
 has been shown to lower levels
 of dangerous low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
 and raise the level of healthy high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
 And now I battered and fried all this goodness!
What's not to love?

I loved when I pressed the lime slices
with my spoon it released limey goodness in the soup.
Just enough to appreciate.
 Excellent soup.