chicken tortilla soup…your answer to persistent mexican cravings

If you’re female, the draw of Mexican food is similar to that of chocolate. You crave it, you fight it, and more often than not, you give in to it. I can’t speak to whether guys crave Mexican the same as us girls, but from my knowledge of how their tastebuds work, or at least my husband’s, he craves steak and burgers. Lucky.

So in an attempt to avoid a Mexican blowout, I decided to whip up a simply flavored Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 large onion
• 1 jalapeno
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or bacon grease!)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups of homemade chicken broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• a couple grinds of black pepper
• 1/2 fresh lime
• Optional garnishes: avocado, monteray jack shredded cheese, corn chips

1. Fill dutch oven halfway with water and bring to boil. Meanwhile, trim some of the skin and fat off chicken. I’ll spare you the pictures of this process, as some of my semi-vegan friends might possibly disassociate themselves from me.

2. When water is boiling, carefully add chicken, reduce heat to simmer and set timer for 45 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, dice onion, jalapeno, garlic and bell pepper, and sauté in pan with olive oil until onions become transparent. Luckily, my pan had a little bit of leftover bacon grease, so I used that.

4. After 45 minutes or so, remove chicken from pot and let cool a few minutes. Transfer chicken broth to containers, but leave two cups in pot. I froze the rest for later use.

5. Turn burner to medium heat and add 4 cups packaged chicken stock, diced tomatoes, Rotel, cumin, salt, black pepper and lime juice. Stir.

6. Then ‘pick’ chicken and add it to soup. Let simmer 15 to 20 minutes, then serve. Garnish with avocado, cheese and even corn chips if it will save you an indulgent night at an El Taco!