Sopa de Estrellitas

These past couple of weeks have been pretty darn cold in Tuscaloosa, so I decided to make sopa de estrellitas as a way to stay warm, fat, and happy. My grandmother used to make this soup, which is how I first learned to love it. The fortunate thing about sopa de estrellitas is that it’s quite accessible in terms of ingredients and is also very simple to make.

Ingredients:
-1 cup star-shaped pasta (you may use other shapes, though I was able to find an organic version at Target)
-1 medium onion, diced
-3 TB oil
-1 cup tomato sauce
-2 to 3 cups water (less if you like your soup thick, as I do)
-1 medium tomato, diced
-salt & paprika (a pinch of each)
-cilantro, to garnish

Directions:
-In a sauce pan, heat the cooking oil over medium. Add the diced onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Then, add the pasta and sauté for an additional 5 minutes, or until stars become golden brown, stirring often (this a very important step and one from which this soup gets much of its flavor, so make sure to be patient and keep moving the pasta around the pan so that it is consistently cooked). Next, add the tomato sauce, water, diced tomato, salt, and paprika. Bring to a boil before turning the heat down to a steady simmer. Partially cover the soup with a lid and let cook for 8-10 minutes, checking occasionally. Serve with cilantro and enjoy!

Potato Tacos (Tacos de Papa)

Today, I tried making tacos de papa for the first time and I’m glad I did. I hadn’t had them since I was probably eleven or twelve years old, when they were one of my favorite meals to eat thanks to my best friend’s grandmother, who also made an amazing torta de milanesa (definitely not vegan). Still, tacos de papa have always reigned supreme in my heart, and I found a helpful recipe online at Saveur. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but since I omitted the cheese and tweaked a couple of ingredients or measurements as I saw appropriate, I’ll include the alternate version below. There’s also a helpful video on the logistics of making fried tacos here. Additionally, you can find some more helpful tips at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients:
-1 TB finely chopped cilantro
-1/2 tsp dried oregano
-1/2 tsp sugar
-2 ripe tomatoes
-2 jalapeños
-3 cloves garlic
-2 TB vegan margarine
-1 lb russet potatoes, peeled
-2 tsp kosher salt
-1/2 tsp granulated garlic
-1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1/2 cup grapeseed oil
-about 10 corn tortillas
-thinly sliced green cabbage and cilantro for serving

Directions:
1. Puree cilantro, oregano, sugar, tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, and 2/3 cup water in a blender until smooth and set salsa aside. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil, add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. Add granulated garlic, margarine, salt, pepper, and cumin, and mash until smooth. Set potato mixture aside.

2. Heat oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Spread 2 heaping tbsp. potato mixture over half of each tortilla, and fold over to form a taco. Working in batches, add tacos to oil and fry, turning once, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes.

3. Cover tacos with cabbage and drizzle with salsa before serving.

Tips:
1.Toothpicks are handy, but it’s possible to manage without them so long as you’re able to use a spatula to apply initial pressure to the tacos to keep them flat.
2. Fresh corn tortillas work best since the store-bought ones tend to break when folded, but it’s still possible (with a bit of extra care) to make them work. In a way, the potato mixture acts as a glue (a delicious, delicious glue) after a minute and holds the broken tortilla together anyway.
3. Saveur’s recipe makes a lot of salsa. At least, it did when I made it. You can half it and still have plenty, but it’s also really tasty (and spicy) and perhaps worth making a big batch so that you have some for later.
4. You’ll absolutely want to drain these tacos on paper towels before serving in order to get rid of excess oil. That way, they’re still delicious but not greasy.