Chicken Tortilla Soup

I had never made this particular soup before and decided to give it a try. I looked at several recipes on the web and gave it a go! Hub and I think it turned out quite well, a bit spicy and very yummy!

I roasted my chicken breasts first which amped up the taste, and I let some of the tortilla strips cook in the soup which proved to be a natural thickener. At the end, however, I ended up adding about two tablespoons of corn starch to get it to my husbands desired consistency

• Chicken Stock (I had a gallon Ziploc full of home made stock)
• 5 chicken breasts roasted then thinly sliced or pulled apart
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• ~1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
• Monterey Jack Cheese
• 1 Avocado, peeled, pit removed and cubed
• Corn Tortillas, sliced into long strips
• 1 large tomato diced
• 1 Serrano pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 Fresno Pepper, seeded and minced (the medium red ones - same size/look as jalapeno but red)
• ~1 1/2 cups roasted corn (you could use canned, I had roasted corn in the freezer from last summer)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with Mexican spices
• 1 can Niblets
• 2 cans of black beans drained
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes
• Cumin to taste
• Chili Powder to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 Limes cut into wedges for serving
  Cilantro for topping

Preheat your oven to to 350 degrees. Place a small bit of oil in your palm and rub all over the breasts, place on a non stick baking sheet and sprinkle on salt, pepper, and chili powder. Cook for 30 minutes, remove and set aside to cool.

In a large Soup Pot, saute your onions and garlic in vegetable oil until translucent, about five to seven minutes. Add your broth.

Add the carrots, peppers, black beans, roasted corn, can of tomatoes, tomato paste and the cut up fresh tomato. Add your spices to taste and about 3/4 cup of the long thin strips of corn tortillas.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes or until the carrots are done. Re-taste the soup for spice, re-season as necessary. When the soup is nearly ready, add the chicken and serve.

I garnished with the cubed Avocado, sour cream, Monterey Jack Cheese and cilantro.