Try This, You Will Like It

It was 60 something degrees yesterday and raining.  With our dry 100 (may be exaggerating a bit) day heat wave of 90 + temperatures it felt like Fall might actually make an appearance.

And I know no better way to ring in Fall than SOUP.

Thankfully in my pantry raid I found almost all the ingredients I needed for this, my second favorite soup of all time, Chicken Tortilla Soup. (second only to Tortellini Soup)

This thing just can't be screwed up.
And it is so. stinkin. good.

I put chicken breasts in the crock pot, smother it with salsa and go.  A few hours later, I shred it with 2 forks.
I substitute tortilla chips for the homemade strips because, well, it's just easier and I don't feel like I am missing anything.
I add an insane amount of cilantro.  Because it is AWESOME and can. not. be overdone in my opinion.
And the lime.  Sister, do. not. skimp on the lime.  Just sayin.

I would love to give creds to the person that gave me this recipe, but I have no idea who they are.  I found it online a few years ago and never looked back.

So, if I stole this recipe from you, so sorry.  Leave me a (nice) comment and I will give credit where credit is due.) :)

Side note...at dinner as we ate this soup for the second night in a row, I calculated how many times I have eaten Mexican food in the past week... 7. 7 times. That's once a day folks. Even I am surprised.  But happy.

Finally, the recipe: ( you are welcome.)

Favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup
8- small corn tortillas
2 tbs olive oil

24 oz low sodium Chicken Broth
1 cup water
1-28oz can diced tomatoes
1-4oz can diced green chiles
1-15 oz can black beans
1-15oz can white corn
2 or 3 chicken breasts diced into 1/2 in cubes
2-Bay leaves
1 tbs diced garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper (Or to taste. We like a little heat so I add more than this)
Pinch chili powder (again, I probably add more)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 medium lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese for garnish


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. on a cookie sheet brush tortillas on one side with oil. (Instead I use 100% olive oil spray to get the job done faster) Cut into thin 1/4 in or less strips. Bake about 15 minutes until they are golden brown.

In saucepan combine broth, water, tomatoes and all juices, beans, corn, bay leaf,garlic, cumin, red pepper and chili powder: bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil reduce the heat to med-low, add chicken and simmer until cooked through approx. 7-10 mins. Add cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.


Ladle into bowls. Garnish with cheese and top with tortilla strips. Serves 6.

Variations:
You can also add 2 cups white or wild rice to this dish to make it even more filling.

Any other veggies your family likes would be fair game for this soup. Bell peppers are good but they would take an extra step of sauteing them first and then adding them to the soup.

Not everyone will have one of these so I omitted it from the recipe but when I make this soup I tend to precook the chicken in a pressure cooker with salsa and some garlic for a little extra flavor though in time crunch it's easier to cook it in the soup and still just as yummy. When I use the pressure cooker I shred the chicken instead of cube it since it's hot and just add it right to the soup.