Red Chileatole with Mushrooms, Chicken, and Zucchini Review

4.5 stars (on a 5 star scale) p. 127-128 The broth has a good, dark, deep, earthy, and spicy chile flavor. And it smells wonderful while simmering! As the recipe remarks, I imagine you can use it successfully as a base for virtually any vegetables or meat. For these particular ingredients: * I liked the zucchini, though next time I'll cut it in bigger chunks so it's more noticeable and distinctive. * I enjoyed the taste of the shiitakes, though they're a bit too chewy for me. (Whenever I cook shiitakes in soup, they always end up like this. Maybe that's simply how they are.) * I used a few white mushrooms. These didn't taste right. * The chicken is chicken. It's nice for texture and protein, but adds no flavor. * I couldn't find epazote. I almost used parsley as a substitute but realized at the last minute that recipe says to substitute flat-leaf parsley and mine wasn't flat-leaf. I only added a negligible amount. Incidentally, I added only three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt at the end, not the one teaspoon the recipe thought might be appropriate. This might be because the chicken broth I used contained salt.