Sopa de habas fava y nopalitos
My esposo has been under the weather, so I decided to make him a soup that is both hearty and warming, but that also goes down easy. This is what I did.
I sauteed a medium-sized chopped onion, a diced bulb of garlic (not for the faint of heart, perhaps), a diced thumb-sized chunk of ginger and one chopped carrot in three tablespoons of olive oil for about ten minutes. Then I added a 12 oz. can of fava beans, including the juice, along with a whole bunch of fresh-ground black pepper. I let that simmer for several minutes and then added 36 oz. of water and three vegetarian bullion cubes. You could also use a few tablespoons of miso paste or else just use delicious vegetable broth instead of the water. This simmered for 20 minutes, during which I washed and chopped cilantro and rinsed the nopalitos, which I also tore into thirds. Then I added the nopalitos and let everything simmer for about ten more minutes. Then I turned off the heat and added a quarter cup of olive oil and the cilantro, gave it a good stir and served it up. Definitely the best brothy (ie non-pureed) soup I've ever made.