One day I would love to own and operate my own business. The type of business has varied over the years but the entrepreneur has always been in me. I think I knew I wanted to be a business owner before I could even spell it. Playing store and restaurant were much higher on my list than Barbie's, sports, or any other toys. Because of my love of cooking and baking, the business du jour is a little lunch spot that serves desserts. This is always in the back of my mind and someday I'll open it and you'll all come...right?!
My wheels are always turning and thinking of menu items I would like to serve in my restaurant. I recently came upon multiple recipes for Chicken Tortilla Soup and decided that was some kind of omen that I should make it. I've steered clear in the past because Wes has some aversion to it for some unknown reason. In the spirit of keeping things as easy as possible, one of the recipes utilized a crockpot. A friend tried it and gave it her thumbs up. I was torn though because another bloggy friend swore by her amended version of a Cooking Light recipe. What to do? Combine them into my own! That's another idea I have festering up there in my head, to enter and win a cooking contest. So my mind is always trying to think of entries for that too. Can you see now why I can't remember anything else, there are too many useless thoughts and recipes up there to filter through! But I digress. You can visit the original 2 recipes but the one I've posted is my own, slightly altered version. This was perfect yesterday in the rain and cold, served with a good old grilled cheese sandwich!
CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP
1 - 28oz can diced tomatoes (pureed in the blender for my husband who doesn't like chunks of tomatoes - you can leave yours as is)
2 1/2 to 3 cups chicken broth
1/2 onion (about 3/4 cup)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups shredded chicken
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup chopped carrots (or any other veggie you have on hand)
2T. cumin
1T. chili powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
Toppings:
tortilla chips
shredded cheese
Combine all soup ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. You can assemble this all the night before (I did wait to add the garlic because of the strong aroma it leaves in the fridge.).
Before serving, crush up a couple of handfuls of tortilla chips (I used multi-grain for a few more nutrients) and incorporate them into the soup. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
Top each bowl with additional crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.
Sounds delish...maybe one day I will find time again to cook, in which case I'll try out your revamped soup recipe! By the way, you should totally open your own spot - I'm sure Marty Rosen would love it!
ReplyDeleteOh you will find time eventually. This one is really easy and would seriously only take you 5 minutes to dump in the crockpot. By the way, who's Marty Rosen?
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try this combined recipe - the ease of the crockpot sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely frequent your lunch and dessert restaurant. Thanks again for the Azur recommendation - it was hands down the best barbecue we've had in the bluegrass. And it was a pleasure to get to meet you too.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
He is the food critic for the Courier Journal.
ReplyDeleteOh, I thought that was Robin Garr. I guess he retired though. Well then, that's quite a compliment!
ReplyDelete