Chicken Tortilla Soup

Well, it's a cold, snowy night and what better to have for dinner than a good soup. I read Kendall's blog at www.kendallandkeith.blogspot.com. She always has the BEST recipes and this one has sounded good for awhile. We tried it tonight and she did not lead us astray! It was great! I stole this from her blog...

(Here's a newer/better photo!)

Here's a recipe for a delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup. It makes a whole bunch, so be prepared to share and freeze some.

The cast of characters.

In other words, a whole bunch of stuff!!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
(click here for printer-friendly version)

Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 
• **Recommended addition from my mom: 1 small can of tomato soup**
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn
• 3 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fajita seasoning mix
• 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• 16 ounces tortilla chips
• 8 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded 
• Bread bowl - optional 

First: cook the chicken breasts. I didn't photograph this. Sorry, it wasn't all that exciting! I boiled mine in water in a sauce pan with a bay leaf. Then, Keith shredded it and set it aside.

Chop the 3 cloves of garlic and one onion

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a big soup pot. This is going to get really full, so use the biggest one you have!

Add the garlic and onion to the melted butter. Saute for 5 minutes.

Add 2 tbsp flour and stir well, cooking one minute more

Next, you're going to add the chicken broth and half & half

Broth

The good & evil. Half & half.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low

Add the condensed soup

1 cup of your favorite salsa

Can of creamed corn

All that shredded chicken

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 package fajita seasoning

Chop up the cilantro

And add 2 tbsp to the soup

{sorry some of the pics are blurry, my handy assistant snapped these in a hurry}

Stir and continue to heat for 15 minutes

We didn't put it in a bread bowl. We just crunched up some tortilla chips, added a little monterrey cheese, salsa, and sour cream! Yum!

{I also halved everything since it was just the two of us. We had some left even at that!}

Give 'er a try! You will LOVE it!