Chicken Tortilla Soup

Nothing like hot soup on a cold rainy day. Try this delicious recipe. Other yummy soups in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
½ gallon water
¼ cup Low Sodium chicken base
23 ounces tomato juice   
1 cup fresh diced tomato    (optional - I don't add)
Grilled or poached chicken, sliced very thin
1 or 2 carrots, julienned   (1/2 of a 10 ounce bag of shredded carrots found in produce department)
2 to 6 diced jalapeños, to taste  (I use 5 or 6)
½ red onion, julienned
½ cup fresh chopped cilantro   (1/2 a bunch, leaves only)   
1/3 cup fresh diced basil
1 ½ tablespoons fresh chopped garlic
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup corn
Pinch cumin

Directions:
Bring liquids to a boil.  Add the chicken base.  Lower heat to a simmer. 
Add all vegetables and spices.  Simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots are tender.  Add chicken and continue to simmer till chicken is just heated through.

Garnish soup with corn chips, shredded cheese and avocado.

This is a Pearl Street Grill recipe, revised by Gayle Moret. Gail says, "I now always use a Costco rotisserie chicken.  I bone it, tear it into strips and put about 2/3rds or 3/4s of the meat in the pot.  When I've weighed the chicken, it's usually about 13 or 14 ounces of meat."

Super Bowl Game Day

It is hard to live in Phoenix now and NOT be a Cardinal fan today. Everyone is wearing Cardinal red. We are having a Super Bowl party and I went right to Tastes & Treasures cookbook for food ideas. Cowboy Caviar seemed like a great choice and it is very tasty. I borrowed Cumin from my neighbor and bought Coriander in the grocery store aisle under Mexican foods. It is tiny balls so I crushed it with a rolling pin. The two flavors are interesting. I would have never used them but am glad I did. The dressing also calls for fresh garlic. Okay...it is confession time. I have never used fresh garlic and did not know how to do it. Thank goodness my daughter in law is such a great cook. I had watched her mince garlic cloves but then I could not find the garlic press. Knowing it was buried in the draw of utensils that I rarely used, I began to look. Found a cherry pitter, lemon juicer, apple sectioner. Then I got lucky and found one half of the garlic press. After much digging (you can tell by now that I don't cook much) the other half appeared and I was good to go. Except one garlic clove seemed like a lot so I stopped there. Oh well. This is a new version of Cowboy Caviar. Then two avocados did not seem like enough so I added another. Love them in anything. And the aroma of fresh cut cilantro is yummy. This is a photo of our good friend, Earlene Alauria, holding Cardinal cupcakes and me with the Cowboy Caviar ...Go Cards.