Chicken Tortilla Soup

Remember how last week was comfort food week at our house?  Well here's another fruit of my labor:  Chicken tortilla soup.  I am a big fan of soup and also a big fan of Mexican food.  This of course was the perfect combo, even Mike said this was a soup he could eat a lot of - high praise from that meat loving man.

I'm just going to let most of the pictures do the talking on this one.

I've become a kind of connoisseur of chicken tortilla soups if you will and this one has all the good stuff from all the soups I've had.  Hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do; my mouth's watering just looking at these pictures.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, diced

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 jalapenos, finely diced

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 cups water

1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can corn, drained

1 bag boil-in-bag brown rice, cooked (or 2 cups prepared rice)

3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Option garnishes

1 cup shredded cheese

avocado slices

tortilla chips

Directions

In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalepenos and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, water, tomatoes, corn, rice, and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside, or place in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with paddle attachment and shred that way (believe it or not, it works like magic!) Return chicken to pot and add lime juice and fresh cilantro. Garnish with tortilla chips, cheese and avocado if desired.