Chicken Tortilla Soup: More veggies please!

If you have picky eaters at home who turn their noses up at vegetables soups can be a great way to get them to eat more or try new ones. My family loves this tortilla soup-it has great flavor without being too spicy, and I love it because it gives me a way to use up vegetables that are sitting in my fridge from previous recipes.  Of course you can buy veggies just for this soup, but I love this as an end of the week "kitchen sink" meal to use up what is left before it goes bad.

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Everyday Food (Jan/Feb 2012 pg. 84) but mine varies significantly.  About the only part still directly taken from the original is the crispy tortilla strips you serve on top of the soup.  They fulfill that salty/crunchy need without the fat of fried chips- how awesome is that!  I actually think the only reason my five-year-old eats the soup is for the tortilla strips.  This soup is also lower in fat than many tortilla soup recipes because it doesn't have a large amount of goopy cheese in it.  You can use a bit of queso fresco or cojita cheese to garnish if you like, but it's not necessary. 

For this version I used onion, green bell pepper, carrots, celery, and corn for my 5 cups of vegetables, but I've also used yellow squash, zucchini,  and spinach with great results (if you are going to use spinach or another green I'd put some extra in because it decreases in volume so much when it cooks.  Also, if you are using corn, squash, zucchini, or spinach I'd wait to put them in until the step when you add the broth since they take less time to cook.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

5 cups diced vegetables (see above)

2 Tbsp. tomato paste*
15 oz. can of diced tomatoes with liquid
 4 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

4 cups homemade chicken stock plus 4 cups water OR 8 cups canned chicken broth
2-3 cups diced chicken (I've used 2 poached chicken breasts, 1/2 chicken from slow cooker chicken, or even a rotisserie chicken in a pinch)
Salt and pepper
6 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips

Optional garnishes
     Lime wedges
     Cojito cheese or queso fresco
     Cilantro
     Scallions
     Sliced avocado

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large pot heat 3 tsp olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add vegetables and saute for until starting to soften, 5-8 minutes.
Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes with liquid, chili powder, and cumin and cook 2-3 minutes.
Add stock/water or broth and bring to boil and season with salt and pepper
Add chicken and lower heat.  Simmer for 5-10 min.

While soup is vegetables are cooking toss tortilla strips on a cooking sheet with remaining tsp. of oil (You can also spray with oil mister instead) and lightly sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake until crisp and golden, 8-10 min.  Tossing once during baking.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish as desired.  This is one of those recipes that makes a ton-enough to feed my family of 5 plus about 6 cups left over for the kids to take in their lunches later in the week!

*I love the tomato paste you can buy in a tube as it's easy to store, and you don't  have any waste.

Let me know if you try any other vegetables in this soup, I'm always looking for new options!