Warming Yourself From the Inside Out
This has been quite the weather week for most of the country. Thankfully, here in the Raleigh area, all we have gotten is cold rain – LOTS of cold rain. It is the perfect weather for a big pot of comforting soup.
We have always liked chicken tortilla soup, especially when it’s creamy. I found a recipe for just such a thing hiding in my saved files and thought we would give it a try.
The recipe comes from www.thecookierookie.com. Her recipe can be made with uncooked chicken breasts, or with cooked rotisserie chicken. I had a package of pulled rotisserie chicken I had recently bought at Costco just waiting to play a starring role in something like this soup.
For the most part, every other ingredient is something I generally keep on hand, so that made it even easier to pull together. You need some good chicken stock, some canned fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles, black beans, corn, spices and the trifecta of flavors – jalapeños, onion, and garlic.
Pull out your trusty Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add a bit of oil to the pot and start to sauté the onions, then add the jalapeños for a bit, and finally the garlic. Next, add the tomatoes, chicken stock, corn, beans, some crushed tortilla chips, spices and the chicken breasts, if you are using those. Simmer all of that goodness for about 20 minutes.
If you have used whole chicken breasts, remove them after 20 minutes and shred them. Next, add them back to the pot. If you choose to use rotisserie chicken, you can add it now. Then add some lime juice, heavy cream and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and cook more until everything is heated through.
The most fun part of creamy chicken tortilla soup is topping it to serve. You can top with more crumbled tortilla chips, or fancy tortilla strips which you can usually find in the salad dressing aisle. Add cheese, sour cream, fresh cilantro or even some sliced avocado.
This recipe came together very quickly and was very satisfying. It is a spicy soup, perfect for warming you up from the inside out. If you don’t like things that spicy, you can cut down the amount of fresh jalapeño and/or cut the chili powder a bit. Topping your bowl of soup with sour cream will also cool down the spice level.
It is definitely a keeper recipe and I will be making it again. If you are fighting off the cold where you are, I highly recommend whipping up a pot of this soup over the weekend.
To find the recipe in full, go to https://www.thecookierookie.com/creamy-chicken-tortilla-soup/
