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! |
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!
Hopefully the dog stays away from the peppers unlike the tomatoes that she ate in a past summer!
ReplyDeleteyou HAVE a pepper!?, I am running to check my crop... it must be the north air that makes your peppers grow!
ReplyDelete