tortilla soup -- YUM
OK, this was an unqualified success, and very easy to make. Of course I didn't make this exactly the way it's listed. For starters, I cut the recipe in half since I had two chicken breasts. I also was using leftover roast chicken from the previous night, so I wasn't cooking the chicken in it. While I'm sure you get some benefit from the chicken juices in the soup or whatever when you cook the chicken in the soup, this still came out magnificently, so I'd also keep this in mind if you have leftover chicken.
8 tablespoons Canola oil
5 10" to 12" corn tortillas
1 onion
6 garlic cloves
1 small bunch of cilantro
2 - 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken stock
14 ounces of canned or frozen corn
3/4 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon chili powder
4 bay leaves
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or try thighs
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
juice from 1 lime
So, prep: Chopped up onion in bowl, olive oil at the ready. Another bowl with minced garlic. An opened can diced tomatoes (I don't see why you couldn't substitute approx two chopped fresh tomatoes for each can diced tomatoes, honestly; I always prefer using fresh veggies to canned stuff...YMMV...) Bowl of the spices (minus cayenne pepper). Bowl of chopped cilantro. A 32oz package of chicken stock is 4c, that's ready & opened. Shredded tortillas in bowl. Frozen corn in bowl. What else?
Oh, yes, sliced up tortilla strips in another bowl, with salt shaker. And a big soup pot. You could fry up the tortilla strips in the soup pot and then proceed with the soup, for a one dish meal, or do the strips in another frying pan for a two dish meal. On the other hand, this one uses a lot of bowls, so I can't see that it's all that much better to save on a frying pan or not.
I fried up the tortilla strips first, patting them dry on a paper towel & salting them lightly. They'll fry quickly, take them off when they turn golden. In the mean time I was letting the oil in the soup pot heat up. When I was done with the tortilla strips, I put them in a bowl & covered them up. After having done this, I note that you could also fry them up while the chicken is simmering.
Fry onions in soup pot. When they're tender, toss in the minced garlic and fry a little more. After that, dump in the shredded tortilla. This is very interesting, at this point it already smells like tortilla soup! When that's cooked a bit, throw in the cilantro for another minute.
Now you can toss in the tomatoes, broth, and spices. Stir this up, and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and throw in your chicken, corn, and cayenne. If it's leftover cooked chicken, shred it then put it in. If you're cooking the chicken, just throw it in to cook. You'll take it out in about 20 minutes, shred it & get rid of the bones, and then put it back in. Taste the soup and add the lime and more spices if you like.
Now while the soup's cooking, clean everything up you've got (another handy tip for not having such a giant mess to tackle after you're all sleepy and full from dinner: clean as you go!) and then grate some cheddar cheese into a bowl, chop up fresh avocadoes into another bowl. Have these two bowls plus the one with the tortilla strips handy on the table. (You will also add a bowl of sour cream, but that should stay in the fridge until soup is served.)
Once the chicken's all cooked, you can serve. But this dish is flexible, and you can keep it on a super low simmer (or simmer/off/simmer/off as you go) for a while. If it reduces, add a bit of water or more chicken stock. It's quite forgiving of the exact time, which is nice.
When you serve it, ladle the soup out in bowls, sprinkle fried tortilla strips on top, then a dollop of sour cream, grated cheese and avocados on top. This is very hearty, makes a meal of itself and it's great on a cold winter night. It was also very easy to make.
Note on bowls: yeah a lot I suppose. Sometimes depending on the amounts, you can have them in little piles on a chopping board. But what I do is get the cheap corning ware, you know the stuff that you can drop and bounce off a tile floor and they don't break? I have a bunch of really small ones (8 small and 8 smaller) I use all the time for this stuff. They're also easy to rinse and set to dry (or toss in the dishwasher) and I don't use them for anything else.
8 tablespoons Canola oil
5 10" to 12" corn tortillas
1 onion
6 garlic cloves
1 small bunch of cilantro
2 - 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken stock
14 ounces of canned or frozen corn
3/4 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon chili powder
4 bay leaves
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or try thighs
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
juice from 1 lime
So, prep: Chopped up onion in bowl, olive oil at the ready. Another bowl with minced garlic. An opened can diced tomatoes (I don't see why you couldn't substitute approx two chopped fresh tomatoes for each can diced tomatoes, honestly; I always prefer using fresh veggies to canned stuff...YMMV...) Bowl of the spices (minus cayenne pepper). Bowl of chopped cilantro. A 32oz package of chicken stock is 4c, that's ready & opened. Shredded tortillas in bowl. Frozen corn in bowl. What else?
Oh, yes, sliced up tortilla strips in another bowl, with salt shaker. And a big soup pot. You could fry up the tortilla strips in the soup pot and then proceed with the soup, for a one dish meal, or do the strips in another frying pan for a two dish meal. On the other hand, this one uses a lot of bowls, so I can't see that it's all that much better to save on a frying pan or not.
I fried up the tortilla strips first, patting them dry on a paper towel & salting them lightly. They'll fry quickly, take them off when they turn golden. In the mean time I was letting the oil in the soup pot heat up. When I was done with the tortilla strips, I put them in a bowl & covered them up. After having done this, I note that you could also fry them up while the chicken is simmering.
Fry onions in soup pot. When they're tender, toss in the minced garlic and fry a little more. After that, dump in the shredded tortilla. This is very interesting, at this point it already smells like tortilla soup! When that's cooked a bit, throw in the cilantro for another minute.
Now you can toss in the tomatoes, broth, and spices. Stir this up, and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and throw in your chicken, corn, and cayenne. If it's leftover cooked chicken, shred it then put it in. If you're cooking the chicken, just throw it in to cook. You'll take it out in about 20 minutes, shred it & get rid of the bones, and then put it back in. Taste the soup and add the lime and more spices if you like.
Now while the soup's cooking, clean everything up you've got (another handy tip for not having such a giant mess to tackle after you're all sleepy and full from dinner: clean as you go!) and then grate some cheddar cheese into a bowl, chop up fresh avocadoes into another bowl. Have these two bowls plus the one with the tortilla strips handy on the table. (You will also add a bowl of sour cream, but that should stay in the fridge until soup is served.)
Once the chicken's all cooked, you can serve. But this dish is flexible, and you can keep it on a super low simmer (or simmer/off/simmer/off as you go) for a while. If it reduces, add a bit of water or more chicken stock. It's quite forgiving of the exact time, which is nice.
When you serve it, ladle the soup out in bowls, sprinkle fried tortilla strips on top, then a dollop of sour cream, grated cheese and avocados on top. This is very hearty, makes a meal of itself and it's great on a cold winter night. It was also very easy to make.
Note on bowls: yeah a lot I suppose. Sometimes depending on the amounts, you can have them in little piles on a chopping board. But what I do is get the cheap corning ware, you know the stuff that you can drop and bounce off a tile floor and they don't break? I have a bunch of really small ones (8 small and 8 smaller) I use all the time for this stuff. They're also easy to rinse and set to dry (or toss in the dishwasher) and I don't use them for anything else.