Southwest Painted Soup

Step 1: Cut the tomatoes in half and then place them on a baking sheet and roast in a 350 degrees F oven for 45 minutes.

Step 2: In a skillet over low heat add one tablespoon butter and saute the shallots in the butter until soft (10-15 minutes) -- do not allow them to color -- you may need to add a bit of water if cooking too fast.

Step 3: In a blender puree the tomatoes and shallots and then put them in a sieve to discard solids. Set aside.

Step 4: In a pot, balance the lettuces and chards in lightly boiling water for 1 minute; rice under colder water and then puree in clean blender with chilies and water.

Step 5: Heat the red and green soups separately. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the red soup. Whisk the oil into the green soup after it is heated through. Add salt to taste and water if necessary to keep both soups at a similar consistency.

Step 6: Ladle out about 3/4 cup of each mixture simultaneously into opposite sides of a rimmed soup bowl. The soup can be garnished with red chile cream on top in a southwestern zigzag pattern if desired. As this is very spicy, some may prefer having sour cream to garnish their soup.

Step 7: To make the red chile creme: place 4 whole dried red chiles on a baking sheet and post in oven at 325 degrees F for 5 minutes. Remove seeds and boil in 1 cup of water until soft. Place mixture in blender and puree and season with a pinch of salt.