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~Hearty Chicken Tortilla Soup~

This southwestern favorite is flavorful, and filling! Nothing compares to the taste of using all fresh ingredients, but I've included canned substitutes for a quicker meal. Serve with warm cumin corn bread or tortillas.

~Ingredients~
1/4 cup Vegetable or Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped
2-4 Cloves of Garlic minced (Per your garlic taste)

1 tsp. ground cumin
3 cups cooked chicken (about 3 large breasts), pulled into thin strips
4 cups chicken broth or stock
2 14oz cans diced tomatoes or 8-10 diced fresh tomatoes
2 small cans green chilies, or about 10 freshly chopped chilies (mild, medium, or hot to taste)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
10-12 Corn Tortillas
2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese

~Optionally Delicious Ingredients~
2-3 Avocados-sliced
Sour Cream
3 Limes, cut in half

COOKING DIRECTIONS:
Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, onion, chilies, cilantro to a large pot and set to medium heat. Mix the remainder of the tomatoes, onion, chilies, and cilantro and set in refrigerator to merry. Add oil to a large skillet and heat to medium. Saute onion, garlic, and cumin in oil, stirring often. When softened, add skillet mixture to pot and simmer one to two hours.

About 30 minutes before ready, cut up the fry up some corn tortillas and slice thin. If you don't have corn tortillas, you can use tortilla chips here, but they just don't have the same pizzazz. If you'd rather not use fried tortillas, heat the oven to 425F, cut your tortillas into thin strips and place them on a baking sheet. Spray with vegetable cooking spray and bake for 10 minutes or until golden. I always make a few more tortillas than I'm using in the recipe because the fried tortilla slices seem to disappear from the kitchen before the soup is ready

When everything is ready, build each bowl of soup individually. Take your fresh salsa mix from the refrigerator and add a heaping spoonful to the bottom of each bowl. Ladle soup into bowls over salsa mix, then garnish each bowl (in order) with sour cream, Monterey Jack cheese, and 4 6 thin slices of avocado. Cut limes in half and squeeze a lime over each bowl. Add a handful of tortillas to each bowl of soup and sprinkle with cilantro.

Salud!

(Feeds at least 6 hungry people & freezes wonderfully)

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