Snow Day Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup is my hands-down favorite. It was one of the first things I really wanted to learn to make, but I was always a little too intimidated which is ridiculous because it is SO EASY.

When I'm sick, I like to eat something spicy to clear my sinuses. Well let me tell you, if you've got the sniffles, this soup is the cure. My kids will be the only kids on the block who have chicken tortilla soup instead of chicken noodle when they're sick, I promise you.

I ended up merging a couple different recipes, taking tips from my college classmate Aliya and from This Week For Dinner.

I wanted to make those delicious crunchy-yet-chewy tortilla strips they serve in restaurants, so I rubbed chili powder and lime salt (you can buy this in the spice aisle; it's one of my favorite toppings for popcorn!) onto corn tortillas, then piled them on top of each other and sliced into strips with a pizza cutter.

I then fries the strips in vegetable oil and left to dry on a paper towel-lined plate.

P.S. forgive the poor picture quality. My camera battery was charging while we did the cooking.

Meanwhile, Sean was cooking a chicken breast on the Foreman Grill. The breast was rubbed with a mixture (I eyeballed the amounts) of chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Once the chicken breast was done, I shredded it with two forks (sorry I didn't get an action shot!) which was kind of really fun and satisfying.

We then sauteed chopped red onion in olive oil, adding garlic when the onions were translucent. Once the garlic and onions looked done, I added a can of tomato sauce, a can of Rotel diced tomato and chiles, two chicken bouillon cubes**, chicken broth and water.

While I brought that to a boil, I added pinches of cayenne pepper, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cilantro (unfortunately not fresh, but it works) and a hearty squeeze of lime juice.

** When I come out with my own line of ingredients, I'm going to call mine chicken boo-yah cubes. Just sayin'.

Look my camera is back in action! These are the tortilla strips, patiently waiting.

Bring the soup mixture to a boil, then add the chicken. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20ish minutes.

I like mine with a handful of shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream (which immediately drowned, lol).

Spoonful of goodness! It was spicy and had me breaking a sweat, but in the best possible way. I would like to experiment with my levels of lime juice and definitely make it with fresh cilantro, but this was still as good as restaurant soup if not better. Definitely a new snow day standard.

Snow Day Tortilla Soup

Chicken

1. Rub chicken breast with a mixture of cayenne pepper, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper and if you want, cilantro flakes.
2. Grill or fry chicken breast.
3. Shred the chicken with two forks, with the tines pointed at each other as you work.

Soup

• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 small red onion
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 can of Rotel Tomatoes and Chiles
• 1 small can of tomato sauce
• 1 to 2 diced cloves of garlic
• A squeeze of lime juice
• Pinch of chili powder
• Pinch of chipotle powder
• Fresh (or dry) chopped cilantro
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Rub corn tortillas with chili powder and lime salt. Cut into strips with a pizza cutter.
2. Fry tortillas in vegetable oil, then dry on paper towel-lined plates.
3. Rub chicken with spice mixture, then grill or fry. Shred with two forks and put aside.
4. In a stock pot or high-walled pan, saute red onions in olive oil. When translucent, add garlic.
5. Once garlic and onions look ready, add chicken stock, water, tomato sauce, Rotel, chicken bouillon cubes and spices.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Add shredded chicken and turn heat down to simmer.
8. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
9. Serve with shredded cheese, tortilla strips and dollop of sour cream if you so choose.

You can always add more veggies, like black beans and corn. I don't roll like that, though.