Those of you who know me, know that I am not a good cook. Well this year I am going to change that. I have decided that 2009 WILL BE the year of Shannan getting better in the kitchen.
My first attempt at cooking more came this weekend. On January 2 I found myself watching the Rachel Ray Show with my MIL. At the end of the show Rachel made this amazing looking tortilla soup – which happens to be one of my favorite soups. I was really interested in her recipe because she switched it up a bit and incorporated tomatillos.
Watching the segment I found myself wanting to make the recipe (This has NEVER happened before). I was happy to learn that I had most of the ingredients so I just had to pick up a few items from the store if I was going to make it.
I decided to debut the recipe at our Sunday family dinner last night. I knew I was taking a risk- if this soup (my attempt at making it) sucked, I was going to have to serve my family peanut butter sandwiches. Attendees, even though they love me, would not be amused.
That afternoon I worked really hard on the soup, following the directions to the T. I even made my own little tortilla crispy strips for the top.
So, here’s what Rachel’s “Mean Green Tortilla Soup” looked like:
**Image taken from Rachel Ray Show Web site
and here’s what my “Mean Green Tortilla Soup” looked like:
While my version of the soup was a little thinner (I added extra chicken stock) the important part is that it ended up tasting delicious! Everyone enjoyed it and best of all; I made it for them myself. I was pretty proud.
If you’d like to try Rachel Ray’s Mean Green Tortilla Soup yourself, you can get the recipe from the Rachel Ray Show web site, here. It includes a great video of her making the dish on her show that I found really helpful.











