Recipes: Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love soup. I am always sad when the weather gets warmer because it means that "soup weather" is almost over. It has been pretty warm in VA this week but as I am pregnant, I am entitled to eat anything I want so I made a huge pot of this Chicken Tortilla Soup, just for me, because my husband doesn't like it and it is a little too spicy for my boys. HA! Go me!

I looked at several recipes and then just made up my own: Here it is:

Ingredients:

2 bone in chicken breasts
7 cups water, divided

2 tbs olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbs Chili powder
2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregeno
Red pepper to taste
Salt to taste (I used seasoning salt)
1 can favorite tomatoes, un-drained (chopped, sauce, rotel, etc. My can of tomato sauce went missing after I bought it at the store so I used a leftover jar of pizza sauce. LOL! It turned out fine!)
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen sweet corn

In a pot or skillet, bring 5 cups of water to a boil (I added onion, garlic, a tsp of salt, and pepper). Boil chicken breasts, covered, for 15-20 min or until done. Let chicken rest/cool. Strain chicken broth and set aside. 

Saute chopped onion in 2 tbs olive oil until tender. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. 

Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, 2 cups of water, beans, spices (not salt) and rice. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until rice is done. 

Shred chicken. Add corn and chicken to soup and simmer, covered, for another 5-10 minutes. Taste and season with salt. 

Serves 8.

Serve with shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips and sour cream (or any other toppings you like!)

YUM! 

I have eaten it every day for lunch this week.

So go ahead and make yourself a pot of this yummy soup! Who cares if it's not soup weather?