Restorative Roasted Garlic Soup

Some recipes for garlic soup are so laden with cream that the salubrious effects of the garlic are certainly thwarted. In this recipe for roasted garlic soup, you will find no cream. No dairy at all in fact. Instead, a creative combination of flavors with a Mexican spin that is as perky as it is restorative.

Roasting and simmering mellow the garlic’s sharpness and enhance its underlying sweetness.

This is one delicious way to boost your immune system so you can avoid the flu, or to nourish yourself if you’ve caught it.

INGREDIENTS

3 whole heads of garlic
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, preferably peanut
1 medium onion, sliced thin
8 cups vegetable stock
1 to 2 dried or canned chipotle chiles
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lime
Toasted thin flour tortilla strips and sliced avocado, for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Coat garlic with a thin film of the oil, reserving the remaining oil. Place garlic in a shallow pan and bake it until very soft, about 45 minutes. When garlic is cool enough to handle, peel all the cloves and reserve them.

3. Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a large saucepan or Dutch oven and warm over medium heat. Add the onion to the oil and saute until it’s softened and lightly colored. Transfer the mixture to a blender and add the reserved garlic. Puree, adding a little stock if necessary to blend the mixture.

4. Add remaining oil to the saucepan and warm it over medium-high heat. Pour in the blender mixture, being careful of any splatters, and saute it until it just begins to dry out and color. Add the rest of the stock, the chipotle, salt, and cumin, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer the soup for 25 to 30 minutes, remove it from the heat, and add the lime juice.

5. Divide the tortilla strips and avocado between the bowls and pour the hot soup over them. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 to 8.

Read more: Food, All recipes, Soups & Salads

Adapted from The Border Cookbook, by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (Harvard Common Press, 1995). Copyright (c) 1995 by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison
Adapted from The Border Cookbook, by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (Harvard Common Press, 1995).

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Michele W.

5:18AM PDT on Mar 28, 2012

Thank you

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KS G.

12:20AM PDT on Jun 26, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Heather B.

9:28PM PST on Feb 4, 2010

Sounds wonderful.

Past Member .

12:45AM PST on Jan 12, 2010

Well just to make yo feel better, we are sweltering with humidity at the moment! Nonetheless the soup looks hearty and I love the addition of roast garlic! Yum!

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Robin R.

6:20PM PST on Jan 4, 2008

The soup tastes wonderful, but I put 2 teaspoons of ground chipotle chiles in and it is HOT! Like make your eyebrows break a sweat hot!

Rachael W.

6:00PM PST on Jan 3, 2008

this is ok, but is VERY thin with the amount of stock the recipe calls for. From the description I thought it would be a lot thicker but it ends up with a very brothy consistency with even 6 cups water. I ended up adding some tapioca flour to get it to thicken up a bit. The flavor is good though.

Wanda S.

11:32AM PST on Jan 3, 2008

I love garlic it has helped me maintain my figure. Howver, I 'm not crazy about mexican. Nontheless I will try , who knows I might start to like mexican!

Tassa R.

10:10PM PST on Nov 27, 2007

So Glad that I LOVE Garlic! I tend to use lots in my food for seasoning, and am of Hispanic/Middle-Eastern heritage. Thanks for this recipe on Garlic Soup.

Manuel D.

1:46PM PDT on Oct 9, 2007

I eat regularly food which needs garlic, but now I'm going to try your recipes. Thank you so much.