Ajiaco

Colombians LOVE soup and eat it at every meal. Which is a-ok with me because I'm a huge fan myself. Not to mention many books state that eating a cup of soup before a meal helps to fill you up and you consume less calories during said meal. Mike is totally on-board the soup train as well because they are more like Chunky Soups, "the soup that eats like a meal". Tonight I made Ajiaco, a traditional Colombian Soup made with 3 kinds of potatoes. Sooo easy and sooo good!

Top it off with a little bit of diced scallions and some avocado - YUM! Here's the recipe I used, which is lacking in some details but fairly obvious. Let me know if you want to make this but need some more detailed instruction and I'll tell you what I did.

* Oh and yes, this soup is made with chicken and I ate it! I have been veg for 15 years, that's FIFTEEN YEARS, but had to let it go here. Seriously, I would never eat. Ok, I could manage in the house but out at restaurants and all the parties we go to NO WAY. Colombians like to eat meat with a little starch. Sorry this is a BIG "oh" sidenote but - we went to a party and I kid you not they handed me a platter and proceeded to place on said platter (and I do not use the word platter lightly) pork, chicken, sausage, steak, pototaes, fried yucca and a really yummy cilantro sauce. I mean really, WHO was gonna eat all that! Normal eating will resume in 2 years, sigh.

Okay, la receta:

Ajiaco Colombiano

Serves 6
Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
One chicken quartered (you may just use chicken breasts, but the dark meat adds so much more flavor)
1 lb. of criolla potatoes, quartered (tiny white boiling potatoes)
1 lb. of pastusa potatoes, diced in large chunks (substitute any medium or small dark colored potato if you can find it)
1 lb. of sabanera potatoes, diced into large chunks (substitue Idaho or local big ole white potatoes)
1 gallon or water, more or less
1 medium onion, diced fine
1 medium tuber of yuca, cut into two inch cubes
2 tsps. paprika
3 cups milk
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Procedure:
Fry chicken pieces on highish heat in oil in a large pot to brown andflavor. Remove chicken to a plate. (Some recipes call for shredded chicken. You would cook chicken this way and then cover with water and boil for a half an hour and then pull with two forks when cooled. It's easier to eat, but less rustic and more work.)
In same grease fry onions until translucent.
Dump in all the potatoes, water, yuca, and paprika.
Boil for an hour to allow all the ingredients to cook and the flavors to meld.
Serve.
Serving Recommendations
This is a grat soup with a quarter avocada spooned on top, a dob of sour cream, and a sprinkle of green scallions.