Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup is another one of my faves. It's a relatively simple soup, made grand by the toppings you put on it. I usually just buy store-made tortilla strips to put in it, but I had an abundance of leftover tortillas to use.

Regarding the chicken to put in the soup, I've tried every method. I've tried as the recipe states, which is boiling the chicken in the soup. I've used store-bought rotisserie chicken. I've tried marinating the chicken, and not marinating the chicken. My absolute favorite method is marinating the chicken for a couple of hours, grilling it, and throwing it in the soup at the last second. By far, this delivers the best flavor. I marinate the chicken in a little lime juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. It's perfect!

To start, cut your tortillas into long, thin strips.

Put the tortilla strips in a little bit of heated oil.

And fry the tortillas until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Some of my strips got a little bit darker than I wanted, but ce la vie. Set aside for topping the soup with.

My grilled chicken breasts, resting pre-dice.

Simmer a nice big pot of sauteed onions, garlic, salt, cumin, crushed red pepper, diced tomatoes, lime juice, and chicken broth. I like to simmer for about 30 minutes.

After the soup has simmered, add in the diced chicken and fresh cilantro. Garnish with the tortilla strips, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and diced avocado.

Siesta Sunday! :)

Ingredients:
Juice of 2 limes
3 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
2 large chicken breasts
1 package small tortillas
4 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes, undrained
8 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp lime juice
1 cup chopped cilantro

Toppings: diced avocado, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream

Directions:
1. In a large Ziploc bag, combine lime juice through salt. Add chicken breast and seal bag. Place bag in the fridge for 2-3 hours, turning bag occasionally.
2. Cut tortillas into thin strips. Heat 2 tbsp canola oil in a large pan. Once oil is heated, add 1/3 of the tortilla strips to the pan. Fry 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with salt immediately. Repeat with the rest of the tortilla strips. Set aside.
3. Heat remaining 2 tbsp canola oil in a large pot. When heated, add onions and saute until tender, 5-7 minutes. Add garlic through crushed red pepper, and saute 1 minute. Add tomatoes through lime juice to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
4. Stir chicken and cilantro into the pot. Remove from heat and serve immediately with toppings.

Recipe adapted from Sunset