Soup season

So apparently, while most people are gearing up for springtime foods, I am getting really into soups? Last week I made lentil soup, recipe here. This is one of my all-time favorite soups, actually. It is delicious and simple plus it has a great name. Originally I was going to use the chicken stock that I had stored in the freezer, but since I didn't plan ahead and didn't want to wait for the stock to thaw, I just used water with powdered vegetable broth stuff? It is like bullion cubes, but not in cube form. Just a container with loose powder, which is quite nice for getting whatever proportion I choose.

Anyhow.

Yesterday I had this great idea to make tortilla soup. This is another of my all-time favorite soups. This recipe comes from the friend of a friend.

Jenny's Famous Tortilla Soup

ingredients

3 chicken breasts

celery

carrots

1 onion

4 bullion cubes (or 6 cups of chicken broth in a box)

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp lemon pepper

2 tsp ground cumin

1 lime

2 cans tomatoes with green chilies

monterey jack cheese, grated

tortilla chips

1 avocado

cut raw chicken into bite-size pieces and cook on the stove.  set

aside chicken aside, leaving grease in pan.  chop celery, onions, and

carrots and saute in left-over chicken grease (mmm) and olive oil.

boil 6 cups water (or boil the chicken broth and skip the cubes). add

4 bullion cubes, chili powder, garlic powder, lemon pepper, cumin,

lime juice, and tomatoes w/ green chilies. add chicken and veggies.

simmer all 20 minutes.  crush tortilla chips in bottom of bowl.  add

soup, avocado slices, and cheese.

I absolutely love this soup. I actually love it even more if I use chicken from a roasted chicken, because I find that I always overcook chicken if I am cooking it on the stovetop, and then it is dry and just not so good. Plus I think buying three chicken breasts in Sweden would be twice the cost of buying a whole chicken (labor is expensive here?). So yesterday I had quite the cook-fest. First I roasted a chicken. Then I realized that I've only ever roasted a chicken when Greg was around to do the carving of said chicken. I think I was pretty successful with it though. I also just realized that I forgot to put lime juice into my soup. Bummer. Lucky for me, it was still completely delicious.

Today I've got the chicken carcass in a pot of water with carrots, celery, and an onion. I figured since I used my chicken stock supply it would be a good idea to replenish. I also like the idea of using the chicken to its fullest capacity. Also, broth has a bit of a cult following, similar to kale or apple cider vinegar. Basically, if you let it, it will provide all the answers to your problems. Here are a few articles I've read about the wonders of broth. This time I actually tried adding a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar (double the wonder?! broth + acv??) so we'll see how that goes.