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Chicago, IL, United States
Wife and mother of 6, lover of God, life, family, good food, good friends and good times!

10.12.2011

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I like Mexican food but if you asked me to pick a different recipe or restaurant a thousand times, it would never be Mexican.  I don't know what it is, but something about the thought of Mexican food is not appealing to me.  Although, I've never had bad Mexican food that I can recall.  Maybe I had a bad fajita when I was younger and it scarred me for life.  Anyway, I digress...my point is that I've had this recipe on my "to cook" list for a couple of years.  I have heard people rant and rave about this soup so many times and for some reason, when I sit down to dine even at a Mexican restaurant, this dish never tempts my tummy.  Well today was my lucky day!  I cooked my normal big Sunday meal (two whole roasted chickens amongst other things) and the family ate all of it except the chicken scraps.  Well I saved the chicken scraps and broth and made a pot of cream of chicken and brown rice soup on Monday.  My family ate of all that too!  So there I was on Tuesday trying to figure out a quick and hearty meal that I can put together in little time - I had not mentally prepared to cook full dinners 3 days in a row!  Surely this was NOT the American way!  Thinking I can make use of the canned goods and frozen veggie add-in's I had frozen during my freezer cooking day of the month, I quickly browsed (in my mind) through recipe ideas and decided it was time to pull this recipe out and put it to the fire.  Well, needless to say it was a SMASH!  Even I had 2 big bowls of it...and you know I hardly ever eat dinner!  Well I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine did.  Thankfully, this was so chock full of veggies and chicken and tortillas that it lasted.  There's enough in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner (and maybe a thermos of it for lunch too). ;)



You will need:

2 tbsp olive oil,
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
3-13 oz cans chunk chicken breast, drained
2-15 oz cans black beans, drained
2-14 oz cans diced tomatoes (I use basil and oregano seasoned)
1-14 oz can sweet corn
1-4 oz can green chile
8 1/2 cups chicken broth 
4 tbsp cornmeal
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
12 corn tortillas, cut into 1 inch strips
sour cream (optional garnish)
monterey jack cheese (optional garnish)
green onions (optional garnish)

  1. In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat. 
  2. Add onion, green and red peppers and garlic.  Sprinkle seasonings (chili powder, cumin, salt) on vegetables, stir and saute until veggies are soft.
  3. Add chicken to pot. Separate chicken chunks as much as possible.
  4. Add remaining canned ingredients (black beans, tomatoes, corn, green chiles). Stir until well mixed (about 3 minutes).
  5. Add broth to pot and bring to a boil. If soup is too thick to your taste, add more broth or water and bring to a boil.
  6. Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water or milk (@ 1-2 tbsp), then add to pot.
  7. Simmer soup on medium low heat about 20 minutes.
  8. Add cilantro to pot, stir and simmer another 5 minutes.
  9. Serve soup hot with a dollop of sour cream, tortilla strips and additional garnishments as desired. 






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