More Mexican

On Tuesday I got out of work a little early. After a quick stop at the grocery store (ok, ok, there also may have been a stop at a shoe store), I was all set to make chicken tortilla soup with a side of black beans.
I make this soup frequently, and have done a ton of different variations. My version is based loosely on a combo of these two recipes:  Mexican Chicken Soup by Ina Garten and Mexican Tortilla Chicken Soup from Tyler Florence.
Normally, I grill up some chicken breasts and then shred them and put them in the soup. This time I cheated and bought a roasted chicken from the grocery store. It is a little bit of a time saver, and I used the dark meat for chicken salad for Jerry to take to work this week.
While the soup simmered I headed out to the patio with my iced tea.

I love Honest Tea for the exact reason on the label; "Just a tad sweet". This Black Forest Berry was fruity and refreshing. My favorite is Lori's Lemon, which I am having a hard time finding!
While I was outside I noticed something in my potted garden.

Folks, there has been a pepper sighting! An itty bitty, teeny tiny jalapeno, to be exact. And quite a few more sprouting up. Did I mention that I bought six jalapeno plants this year? I may have gone a little overboard. But my grocery store is frequently running out of jalapenos. In fact, I couldn't get any for my tortilla soup. I had to add a dash of cayenne. It really wasn't the same without the peppers. 
On top of the soup we added Monterrey jack cheese, a squeeze of lime juice, and some crushed blue corn tortilla chips. I usually add avocado, but the grocery store failed me again and only had hard-as-a-rock fruits.

Sometimes I add black beans to the soup, and I almost always add corn. This time I decided to make Warm Black Bean Salsa to serve over rice as a side dish. My version went like this:

• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 2 ears corn, kernels removed from cob
• 1/2 cup petite diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Mmm, melty pepper jack cheese!

Jerry loved the soup, and even said he liked the beans, which aren't his favorite food. He even helped me finish mine!

Wednesday night is my gym date with my friend Kristin, so its leftovers for dinner. But it has been ages since I baked, so maybe that will be on the menu for tonight!