Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

When there is Tortilla Soup on the menu, I'm the first person to notice and there's a pretty high chance I will order it, no matter the weather. I've been in love with Tortilla Soup for as long as I can remember. 

Despite my appreciation for what is a really simple soup, I've never mastered making it at home — I always over think it, adding something extra or missing some key ingredient.

But I’ve done lots to try to learn the magic sauce, and each experiment gets closer and closer. What I’ve learned: simple poblano chilis, sautéed with the onions and garlic, and freshly made chicken broth. Oh, and not over thinking it. Tortilla Soup should be simple, like a tortilla.

It’s comfort in a bowl for me — this cozy bowl of broth-y goodness and full of Mexican flavor.

And the best part of any tortilla soup? The toppings! Cheese, avocado, crispy tortilla strips (or tortilla chips, which is much faster and less labor intensive), cilantro, and on and on.

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Published September 24, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 poblano chili pepper, diced and seeds removed

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound boneless chicken breasts

1 28-ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes

2 tablespoons minced cilantro, plus more for garnish

6 cups bone broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Optional: 1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

Optional, for serving: avocado, cheddar cheese, corn toasted tortilla strips or chips, lime wedges

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in the bottom of an Instant Pot on Sauté setting. Add diced onion, minced garlic, and poblano pepper.
2. Add chicken, tomatoes, broth, cumin, lime juice, cilantro and optional black beans to pot and stir. Place lid on Instant Pot and turn to slow cooker setting (to use soup setting instead, see step 4). Set timer for 10 hours with vent turned to the sealed position.
3. When soup is done, open Instant Pot. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove chicken from soup and place in a bowl. Use a fork to shred chicken, and then return to soup and stir. Season with additionl salt to taste, and serve hot with toppings of choice.
4. To make this soup more quickly, use the soup setting instead of the slow cooker setting: In step 2, set Instant Pot to “soup” setting and set timer to 10 minutes with the vent in the sealed position. When timer goes off, release pressure, and the move on to step 3.

Homey Grain-Free Apple Pie

This is where most of this year’s hand picked apples ended up: drenched in sweet cinnamon and wrapped in almond flour pastry dough. Baked into a pie, and yes...served with ice cream. Dreamy.

I love the way this pie turned out in the end: rustic, they way many of my favorite recipes are, and not too sweet. But I gotta tell you, I was stressing about it from first apple slice until the the first bites were taken. Not real stress, just the kind of stress you get when you're baking something. 

I used to bake more than I cooked (bread for dinner!) but in the last several years that has reversed (for better), and I cook about ten times more than I bake. Between my infrequent baking and baking with alternative flours, I some times feel like I've lost my baking touch. Years ago I could've baked without using measuring cups, and been right on (I know, this is not technically correct, but I just did it enough that I knew how much was how much). These days, I find I have to try a little hard to get things right. 

But my co-worker and friend, Chrissy, is an amazing pie-baker, and her pretty pies inspired me to up my game with this one. I decided I wouldn't settle for excuses, like "almond flour is hard to work with" and instead strive for "this pie is a piece of art". I bought a new aspen leaf cookie cutter, and went to work. And, I was pretty happy about how my paleo apple pie looked before it went into the oven! A spiral of fall leaves, which was just my mood in the moment. 

Twenty minutes into baking, I realized that my crappy electric oven was heating the pie from the top first, so I rushed to the rescue with foil. I texted Chrissy in a panic, but she encouraged me, saying, I like burnt crust, and I crossed my fingers that the foil would save any more burning: I'd settle for dark golden and rustic. 

The leaf spiral barely resembled leaves when it came out of the oven, but the pie was still grand looking, so came the real test: serving up slices to our guests and taking the first bite. 

Phew! 🙌 I still know how to bake somethings. (To be fair, there are all sorts of baked goods on this blog-- just none of them as prestigious as the good old apple pie).

Homey Grain-Free Apple Pie

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Just a good old classic apple pie, made grain-free.

Serves: 12   |    Total Time: 45 active minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2 batches almond flour pie crust (double the recipe so your have enough for the top-crust), shaped into two balls of dough and refrigerated
• 8 cups cored, peeled & sliced apples
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup cassava flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, sliced into thin pats

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a medium bowl, toss apples in coconut sugar, cassava flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice.
3. Shape your crust: remove one ball of dough from fridge, and roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper until it is 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick. Place back in fridge on flat surface for a moment to make it easier to remove the parchment paper. Remove from fridge after 2-3 minutes and carefully peel back to layer of parchment. Dough should now only have parchment on one side. Place the crust over your pie pan, parchment side up. Now, carefully, peel back top layer of parchment and fit crust to pan. If you get a tear hear and there, just patch it together using your fingers to press the dough together (no one will notice!).
4. Trim edges of crust, and fill with apple mixture. Add pats of butter/coconut oil over apple mixture.
5. To make top crust, repeat the same rolling process as you did with the lower crust: parchment, roll, briefly refrigerate. Then, remove top piece of parchment and cut dough as desired (strips for a lattice, or use a cookie cutter like I did). Transfer pieces carefully to top of pie to finish.
6. Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes. Watch carefully, and wrap crust in foil if it browns too quickly (My oven seems to be overly hot on top, so I do this after about 10 minutes). Allow pie to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Curried Cauliflower Salad with Apple & Fennel

I first discovered this combo at a networking event, at which I spent more time taste-testing all of the appetizers than talking to people. If you know me, you’re probably thinking, “typical.”

That night, after having just a nibble of a salad with cauliflower roasted with curry powder, apple, and fennel, I went home and made my own version of the same thing — one bite was not enough! Since then, I’ve made the recipe several times, tweaking it as I go. Here’s where I ultimately landed: a roasted cauliflower salad with dice apple and thin slices of fennel, tossed with arugula and drizzled with an apple cider vinegar, curry and honey vinaigrette.

Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables to roast. I’m guilty of popping several of the roasted florets into my mouth right as the pan comes out of the oven, still piping hot. It’s super versatile, making it a very good base for this salad, which once dressed is FULL of flavor.

Fennel pairs well with curry vinaigrette because fennel seed is often featured in curry. Fennel bulb is brighter and fresher than fennel seed, and provides a satisfying crunch. Meanwhile, apple is sweet and tangy, a contrast to bitter arugula.

It’s not in the recipe, but occasionally I’ll add a handful of toasted walnuts or pepitas to this salad, too. Nuts go a long way in making a salad feel full!

Unlike most salads, I think of this as cold weather fare. Apples and cauliflower are delicious and easy to find well into late fall, and in the summer I’m not as motivated to turn on my oven to roast a pan of veggies. The curry vinaigrette is warming, and the whole salad goes well with roasted chicken or mahi mahi.

Watch the video below, or keep scrolling for the recipe!

Curried Cauliflower Salad with Apple & Fennel

Published September 22, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yield: 6   |    Active Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the salad:

1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 apples, one diced and one sliced for garnish

1 bulb fennel, sliced thin

4 cups fresh baby arugula

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 teaspoons black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Place cauliflower on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat. Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through and edges are browning. Set aside to cool.
3. Make vinaigrette: combine all ingredients for vinaigrette in a jar and shake to combine.
4. Assemble salad: place arugula in bowl, and top with cauliflower, apple, and fennel. Drizzle with half of vinaigrette and toss to combine. Add more vinaigrette as desired.