Tortilla Soup

Two of my favorite soups available in town (Fayetteville, Arkansas) are the Tortilla Soup from Elanitas (Garland and North Location) and the lunch-time vegetable soup from A Taste of Thai (on the town square).

When I decided to make my own tortilla soup, I wanted to blend the two to create something with both a ton of veggies and that 'south of the border' fire.

Vegetarians can use straight up vegetable broth instead, and it will be awesome.

Use of seasoning is to taste, as always. Quantity and selection of vegetables is a matter of preference as well.

This recipe fills a 20qt stockpot. Eat for days !

Broth Ingredients:

• Chicken, whole
• spices: poultry seasoning, sea salt, black pepper, cumin, lemongrass (or lemon juice)

Veggies that I used:

• cilantro, fresh - still on stems
• garlic, whole cloves
• green cabbage, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• carrots, chopped
• celery, chopped
• avacados, chopped
• yellow squash, chopped
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, large can
• 2 cans diced tomatos
• 1 can yellow corn (drained)

Step One: cook the chicken

• fill the pot halfway with water, add the chicken (washed off), and spices
• add the chopped onions and garlic (either whole or chopped)
• boil it until chicken is cooked (45minutes to 1 hour)
• remove chicken, cool chicken, and remove meat from carcass
• add meat back into soup mix.

Step Two: soup time

• keep the broth cooking (low to medium heat), and add in the veggies
• puree the chipotle peppers, add peppers and adobo sauce to soup
• cover and let simmer - as with all soups, longer the better
• taste, season to your preference

Step Three: serve

• Break up some tortilla chips into a bowl
• add soup
• add grated monterey jack cheese
• avoid burning tongue

another recipe from zenandjuice kitchens - http://zenandjuice.com/recipes/