Chicken Tortilla Soup

I really love it when people ask me to make things for the blog. You know I love the cooking part, but I don’t so much love the deciding what to cook part. The fact that I try not to repeat recipes makes it extra fun. And by fun, I really mean excruciatingly painful. I haven’t had a child yet, so I can’t equate it to that, but I guess I could say it is on the level of plucking my eyebrows with razor sharp, piping hot tweezers. Very unpleasant.

Okey, this is about to get confusing, so let me give you a quick breakdown.

Lindsey B – Friends since the fourth grade. Swam and went to high school together. Used to dress up in extremely humiliating outfits and prance around our neighborhoods together. She still regularly dresses up in ridiculous outfits and never stops making me laugh. She also has a tendency to force me into dance offs at bars. But that is neither here nor there. You can see her HERE and HERE

Lindsey K – Friends since high school. Amazing artist, super fun and quirky and has an obsession with teeth. Is quickly climbing the ladder at THIS popular vegan restaurant. You can see her HERE and HERE

LindsAy Y– Friends from working at Quiksilver and living parallel college lives. Astonishingly level headed and wise. She is the one who sometimes proofs the blog. If there are errors, it’s because I was lazy and didn’t ask her to read it. You can see her other contribution HERE. (I don’t have any pictures of her being silly yet… let’s see if I can remedy this.)

The Lindsey/ay trifecta has recently become more interesting since Lindsey B also took a job at Quiksilver.

And there it is. Now you have no reason to not know what or who I am talking about.

Wow. That was a super long tangent. Annnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddddddd… I’m back.

When Lindsay Y returned from her trip to Texas for the holidays, she announced that I need to make chicken tortilla soup. Why? Because her mom needed a good recipe. That’s why. And guess what, you don’t have to tell me twice. Ask and you shall receive.

So thank you Lindsay Y and your mother Robyn for inspiring this week’s dish. I have to apologize; it was not made on a Tuesday. Eric got tickets to the Lakers game. Lakeshow trumps NFT’z.

For the soup you will need…
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
1 small white onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 jalapenos, finely diced
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8-inch) flour tortilla, grilled, cut into thin strips
1 avocado, pitted, sliced
1 cup shredded Monterrey or Cheddar cheese

In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened, add the garlic and jalapenos and cook for another minute.


Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil.


Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot.


While the chicken is cooling, heat the vegetable oil in a separate pan. When the oil is very hot, add the strip of tortilla. Lightly salt and pepper them and fry them till golden and crispy, about 2 minutes.



Remove them and let them dry on a paper towel.

When the chicken has cooled enough to handle shred it and set it aside. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot.

In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, fried tortilla strips, avocado slices and cheese.


**Warning** I do not handle spice well and this recipe was borderline too spicy for me. Lish and Eric and Lindsey B thought it was wonderful. If you like spicy, use two jalapenos. If you are a baby like me, just use one.

Love and Beer Floats
Angela

P.S. Found one…