Chicken Tortilla Soup

Delish!  It's the only word to describe this tasty little soup.  It's been a little cooler and rainy at my house the last few days, and I wanted something warm, but light as well.  Can I just say this soup really is SOOOOO GOOD!  I love it!!  I made good use of a whole rotisserie chicken for this recipe.  I may just suggest that that is the way to go.   Real convenient, and quite easy too.  The base of the soup is a homemade stock, but really, use what you have.  If it's a box of broth, or just bouillon cubes it will still be great.  I hope you slurp up every last bit of this soup, just the way I did.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

a Lisa original, but it really wasn't that hard:)

10 c. chicken broth

2- 10 oz. cans of Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chili

(I used the Hot variety, and it was quite spicy.  Use the regular or mild if you're not into a lot of heat.)

1 c. chopped yellow onion

1 c. shredded carrots

1 c. chopped celery

Bring these ingredients together in a big pot or Dutch Oven, and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium low, and let gently simmer away until the veggies are tender.  Only about 10-15 minutes.  Taste and add a little more salt and pepper if needed.  Add to the soup:

3-4 c. chopped cooked chicken breast

(I used all the chicken from a whole 4 1/2 lb. rotisserie chicken.)

To serve have ready:

1 c. chopped cilantro

10-12 sliced corn tortillas or fried tortilla chips crunched up.

In each bowl I place a good tablespoon of cilantro, and a generous amount of tortilla strips.  Pour the piping hot soup over the cilantro, and tortillas, and serve with a squeeze of lime if you want.

You can always add black beans, or corn or both to the soup if that makes you happy.  I liked it just as it was:)

Side note:  I made a homemade stock by placing the bones of the rotisserie chicken in a pot with about 8 c. of water.  I let the bones simmer away for about 1 1/2 hours uncovered.  The broth reduced to about 4 c. total, but it was glorious broth.  It wasn't see-through, and pale, but it was kind of like gravy, and full of goodness.  I needed more broth for the recipe so I ended up just adding plain old clear broth, but having the homemade stuff too really made the flavor good.  I've also made homemade broth in a crock pot overnight as well.  Just take the carcas of a chicken or turkey, skin and all, and place it in your crock pot and cover with water.  Let it cook on low overnight, and in the morning you have something utterly wonderful.  Store it for use later or freeze.