Chicken Tortilla Soup

Click here to print the recipe

It's been raining here in Northern California. Not really big rain, just some persistent drizzle that's been lasting for several days now. The temperature dropped a little and it feels more like California winter nowadays.

I don't mind it. Parched Bay Area needed the rain badly.

The kids went to school with their coat on this morning. It's such a stark contrast to their usual 't-shirt and shorts' school attire they had been wearing for months. The downside of having rainy days is, at least according to little C who's in 5th grade, that they've been having indoor recesses. He thinks that sitting in the lunch room and playing board game is utterly boring. He wants to play outside and hanging upside down from the monkey bar.

But the principal says no.

Big C is also not liking this cold wet weather very much. 

He's been doing competitive rowing since the beginning of January, and goes to practice 6 days a week. Being on the water in the rain just adds misery to an already gruesome exercise.

But I'm hoping that this rain will alleviate our drought situation, that we'll have plenty of water throughout the summer. And my water bill will stay low.

In the meantime, here is some chicken tortilla soup to help you warm up :)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded and cooked chicken meat (leftover rotisserie chicken works wonderful for this)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon chile powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 can (14-oz) canned diced tomatoes
• 1 can (14-oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 6 corn tortillas, cut into strips and deep fried until crispy
• 2 avocados, diced
• Lime wedges
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Sour cream
• Grated cheddar
• Hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and peppers into the pot. Cook and stir the vegetables for about 3 minutes, until tender. Add cumin and chile powder, stir to combine. Add shredded chicken, black beans and diced tomatoes into the pot and mix.
• Gently pour chicken stock into the pot and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer soup for about 30-40 minutes, uncovered
• Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the that and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
• Ladle soup into individual bowls. Top with crispy tortilla chips, chopped red onion, and avocado. Garnish with cilantro and a lime wedge. Serve with sour cream, cheddar and hot sauce.

Serves 4 as main dish