Chicken Tortilla Soup

 

We love soup, and I can't believe that I had never made Chicken Tortilla Soup before.  It is so easy and delicious, and healthy. Of course, it also helps that we live in Chicago Land, and the wind chill hovers at -5 below.  Yes, that is a minus sign, so hot soup to me warms my body and my soul.  There are probably as many variations of Tortilla soup, as there are chili recipes:)  I change recipes all the time, or take bits and piieces of several recipes to make it my own.

This particular healthy recipe uses cooked chicken, or you could even use a rotisserie chicken, if you want. Then you have your spices, chili powder, garlic and cumin, but you could add jalapenos, or red pepper flakes.  Surprisingly, my husband didn't add any additional heat. If you wanted additional heat, you could use the diced tomatoes with green chilies.  You also add chicken stock, I used low sodium, and no salt tomatoes.  We also added 1 cup of frozen corn, but you can also add black beans, but we didn't, because I don't like black beans.  Then you just simmer the above ingredients and pour into soup bowls.  How easy is that.  Just add your toppings, as desired, sour cream, I used no-fat, crushed tortilla chips, cilantro, and lime juice, (a must in our house)  and cheese.  You don't see the crushed chips or cheese, because I was in such a hurry to take a picture, before the sun left my dining room.  If I added the cheese and the chips, you wouldn't be able to see the beautiful color of the soup, and the other ingredients. Enjoy!

Here is a tease for my next  post, Engagement Champagne Cupcakes!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yield:  4 servings

Cooking spray
2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken stock

1 ½ cups cooked , chopped chicken breast

1 c water
1   tbsp chili powder,
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 (14.5-ounce) can dices tomatoes
1 c. frozen corn

¾ c crushed tortilla chips

¼ c shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
4 lime wedges
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat a large sauce pan over med- high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray..  Add garlic, saute 1 min.  Add stock and next 5 ingredients, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer 15 min.  Ladle soup into 4 bowls, top each with 2 tbsp chips, 1 tbsp cheese, 1 tbsp cilantro. Serve with lime wedges and avocado slices, if desired.