This is another recipe I picked up from Quinta Brava when I was in Oaxaca. It’s a great way to “eat the rainbow” with a diverse collection of vegetables and you can customize the flavor by seasoning it to taste. It’s entirely vegan, and a fairly simple soup to make. Plan it for a day when you can take your time to chop everything up and let it simmer for a couple hours. There is no added broth — the color comes from simmering the vegetables, especially the mushrooms.

This makes enough for 6-8 meal-sized portions. You can feed more people if you’re planning to serve it as a soup course in a larger Mexican meal. If you want, you can keep it vegetarian and serve it with something like huitlacoche quesadillas or nopales tacos, or use it to add more vegetables to a meat-based entree like mole (I have several different mole recipes on this page). If you’re feeding a mixed crowd of vegans and non-vegans or non-vegetarians, you can serve it with some Mexican cheese like cotija and/or bacon crumbles (as seen below).

Notes on ingredients: Chipotle meco chiles have a smoky quality to them, so if you have trouble sourcing them, try substituting morita peppers and add a teaspoon of liquid smoke to the soup. Also, the original recipe doesn’t mention any other seasoning besides salt. I’ve suggested some optional additions as I didn’t find it to have a very strong flavor or spice on its own. If you’re not comfortable experimenting, try adding just a little at a time of one thing before adding more until you feel satisfied with the flavor.

3 tomatoes
1 potato (or 2 small potatoes)
1 chayote
3 ears of corn (~1 bag frozen)
2 carrots
2 chipotle meco chiles (or substitute morita and add liquid smoke)
3 squash (or small zucchini)
150 grams mushrooms (5-6 oz.)
1 bunch cilantro
1⁄4 onion
salt to taste
optional: garlic powder to taste
optional: Mexican chili powder to taste
optional: hot sauce to taste
optional: shredded cheese for serving
optional: bacon crumbles for serving

Cut the ingredients into medium cubes. Separate the corn kernels from the cob if you are using ears.

Add the ingredients to a large pot and cover with water. Boil until the vegetables are al dente.

Add some salt and season to taste.