Chicken Tortilla Soup

DISCLAIMER

I'm going to start by putting a disclaimer on this puppy: IT WILL TAKE YOU FOREVER TO MAKE THIS!!

And it's not that the recipe is complicated - it absolutely is not. But when you're dicing 6 different veggies, and shred 2 large chicken breasts, it's just tedious, and well...it takes time. So if you have 2-3 hours to make this, go for it - you won't be sorry! But if you're looking for a quick soup, look elsewhere.

Backstory

I decided to try this the first time a couple years ago when I was expecting my Mom and sister in town to celebrate my 26th birthday. I thought it'd be nice to have a pot of soup on for supper that day, so I found this recipe on SparkRecipes.com (again - a GREAT resource for healthy recipes) - thanks sparker AUTUMNINNY.

The Recipe

2 lg chicken breasts, poached and shredded
5 small carrots, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large orange bell pepper, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes (or 3 1/2 C chopped fresh tomatoes)
1 (32oz) box chicken stock
1 small package frozen corn
3 finely chopped chipotle peppers (REMOVE THE SEEDS!!!)
1 (15oz) can black beans
salt and pepper to taste

Topping (optional): corn tortilla chips and shredded Monterrey jack cheese

The Prep Work

Remember that part where I said this recipe took forever and a day to make? Yeah, the prep is the biggest part. I started by dicing and dicing and dicing for what seemed like hours.

The carrots


The 2 different bell peppers, onion and chipotle peppers

Let's Get Started

First, I poached (a.k.a. boiled) the chicken breasts for 20 minutes in a boiling pot of water with salt and a few bay leaves.


While I was waiting for the chicken breasts to cook through, I sauteed the carrots in 1 Tbsp olive oil for 10 minutes in a large skillet, until they were nice and soft.


I then added the peppers and the onion and sauteed in yet another Tbsp olive oil until they were nice and tender.



Once the chicken was poached (i.e. done boiling), I got to work shredding it.


When everything was cooked nicely, I added it to a large stockpot, along with the shredded chicken, crushed tomatoes, corn, black beans and chicken broth.



You let it simmer pretty much as long as you feel like. I generally only let the flavors blend about 20 minutes or so, but I don't think longer would hurt.

You really won't be disappointed in this, but WHOA does it ever take time to make.