Dinner is served! The two biggest recipe changes that I made were removing the chicken after it was sauteed with the veggies, and pureeing the finished soup with a hand held blender. Then to serve, I topped the soup with the chicken, some home toasted tortilla strips, and a dollop of sour cream. A piece of our homemade bread and some melted Jack cheese made for a great dipper!
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken cut up, OR use leftover cooked and shredded chicken
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large jalapeno or other hot pepper of your choice, chopped fine
2 C of chopped carrots
32 oz. chicken broth
2 tsp. cumin
3 C canned, or frozen roasted tomatoes
4-5 medium potatoes, cubed
1/4 C cilantro, or more if your a big fan
1 Tbs. lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
If using raw chicken, saute the chicken in the oil, with the onion, garlic, carrots, and hot pepper, in a large soup pot. (If using already cooked chicken, add it at the end or use it on top of the soup as in the picture above.) Cook until the vegetables start to color up just a bit, but be careful not to burn the garlic. If you prefer, you can add the garlic after the chicken and other veggies have been cooking for a couple of minutes. Then add the chicken broth, cumin, potatoes, and tomatoes. Bring this to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 25-40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the cilantro,lime juice, and salt and pepper, (and the already cooked chicken if that's what you're using), and cook about 5 more minutes. See my notes above if you want this to be a creamy-textured soup. Top with tortilla strips, a dollop of sour cream, or whatever strikes your fancy!
