Chicken {tortilla} Soup for the Soul

Jon and I both work every other weekend, so on those days it's nice to have a quick, easy, and delicious meal to be able to prepare before work.   I am also a lover of the crock pot (I do believe it was one of the best inventions ever!).  So when I find a recipe that sounds delicious and is able to be put in the crock pot when I get home in the morning and then a wonderful meal is ready when I wake up, I am all about it!   And as most of you know, I LOVE Mexican food! One of my favorite, if not my favorite, mexican restaurants in town is Superior Bar and Grill.  Well, I was flipping through a cookbook we have, Louisiana's Best Restaurant Recipes, and I stumbled upon a Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe from Superior!  Fabulous was the first thing that came to mind!  So this morning I stopped by the grocery store and picked up a few items, went home and chopped them up, and then threw them in the crock pot to mix and mingle and create a wonderful dish!  Here is the recipe...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

from Superior Grill

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon water

1 (16 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes

2 (8-10 oz) skinless chicken breasts, uncooked

1 (16 oz) can tomato juice

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

3 jalapenos, finely chopped

1 1/2 oz chicken base

1 potato, peeled and cubed

1 yellow squash, cubed

1/4 head cabbage, chopped

1/3 cup rice

1 zucchini, cubed

4 ribs celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion, chopped

Directions:

In a large stockpot, combine water, tomatoes, chicken, tomato juice, spices, jalapenos, and chicken base. Bring to a boil, then add remaining ingredients; lower temperature to let simmer for 10-15 minutes.  After it has simmered, use a potato masher to stir contents until all chicken has broken up and spread throughout the soup.  It is then ready to serve.

I definitely made some changes to the recipe.  For one, I put all the ingredients, minus the chicken, in the crock pot this morning and put it on low.  Once, I woke up this afternoon I put in the chicken and cranked up the pot to high.  I let it cook about 2 more hours and then proceeded with the potato masher step.  Also, instead of 1 16 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, I used a 10 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes and 1 can rotel tomatoes (I probably use rotel tomatoes for everything).  Do NOT mistake chicken base for chicken stock/broth...it's not quite the same thing!  I am glad I looked this up before making this recipe.  Chicken base is powdered stock.  I only put in 3 ribs of celery, because instead of chopping up an onion and making myself cry, I used Season's Blend (another great invention!).  If you don't know what Season's Blend is then you are missing out.  (Not too long ago I didn't know what it was, but my friend Shannon introduced me to this chopped onion, celery, green bell pepper blend in the freezer section...Season's Blend=godsend).  Notice the recipe does not call for salt....it should!  I realized there was not salt in the ingredient list, but I figured it would be salty enough with the can tomatoes and the tomato juice, but I was wrong.  You definitely need to add some salt. (I don't know how much because I added mine to my bowl once it was cooked.) Also, garnishing your bowl of soup with some sliced avocado and crispy tortilla strips would top it off just right!  I hope you like this recipe as much as I did, and I hope you are having a great weekend!