Cooking with Dr. Monkey

Today's episode:  Cowgirl Chef's smokin' tortilla soup.

Sparky had to get some dental work done and soup was about the only thing she could tolerate afterwards so I made this soup the other night for supper.

I started out by cooking up a little over one pound of boneless chicken thighs.  I like thighs because they have a little fat on them which makes what ever I'm cooking taste better.  I also put 5 cups of water and two Not Chik'n bullion cubes in my stock pot and turned it on medium.

Next I broiled on high for 12 minutes one white onion that I had cut into 8 wedges and 8 cloves of garlic in it's skin.  When it was done I took it out and let it cool.

When the onion got cool I put it in my processor with the garlic that I had slid out of it's skin.  I added about four chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and about two thirds of a quart of my home canned tomatoes.  I salted it and added a pinch of black pepper and I pulsed it all up until it was nice and smooth, then I added it to my broth.  Then I rinsed out my processor and I shredded my cooked chicken in it and then I added it to the stock pot as well.  I let it all simmer together for about an hour on low heat.

Before I served the soup I toasted and cut up four flour tortillas, shredded some cheddar cheese, and I cut up in avocado into bite sized chunks.

When my soup was ready I added the tortilla chips to our bowls, along with the avocado chunks, then I covered that with my soup.

Next I topped the soup with the cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

The verdict: feckin' delicious.  I'm in love with this soup.  Cowgirl Chef calls for toasted corn tortillas in her recipe but since I had flour, that's what I used.  It turned out fine but next time I will use the corn variety.  Seriously though, this may be my new favorite soup.  It's a little spicy, tomatoey, and meaty.  The avocado chunks are a delight to bite into and the whole dish warms and fills you up.  I'll definitely make this again.  If you're a vegetarian, subsititute mushrooms or beans or TVP for the chicken.  You could even add roasted corn or whatever other veggie you wanted.