Spicy Tortilla Soup

Last week I had the biggest urge for tortilla soup.   Maybe it was because Cinco De Mayo was coming up but whatever the case, I HAD TO have some! I really wanted the tortilla soup from Chevy’s but since I’m not in ordering distance to a Chevy’s I knew if I wanted some, I would have to make it myself.

Without having a recipe in hand, I had to just go by the memory of the taste and try to figure it out.   For most of the ingredients, I used whatever I had on hand.  I was forced to go out however since I was missing 2 key ingredients – tortilla chips and cilantro. Tortilla Soup just wouldn’t be the same without the tortillas!

If you’re a “winging it” type of person, you will probably be able to follow along since I was just making it up as I went along.   If you need exact measurements, step by step, I am warning you – you WILL be disappointed!   I promise to make it up to you with my next recipe!!

I started off sauteing about a 1/4 of an onion diced with 3 cloves of chopped garlic in a bit of canola oil. Once that cooked for a few minutes I added in about a cup of homemade tomato sauce that I made the night before.   I added 1 chiipotle pepper and some adobe sauce. After that cooked for a few minutes, I added in chicken stock and cumin and a handful of fresh cilantro.

Once that all came to a boil, I whipped out my favorite kitchen tool – the immersion blender and blended the whole thing until smooth right in the pot.   I cut the corn off of 2 ears of uncooked corn on the cob and put that in. Once that heated up, I squeezed in the juice from 1/2 a lime. Then I tasted for seasonings.

Whoa! My mouth almost burned off and I normally LOVE spicy food!  For the small amount of soup I made, 1 chipotle pepper was a bit too much for my taste.   I didn’t even let my girls eat it.   I added a bit of salt, a little more lime juice and then I was really done.  My urge was still strong enough that the spice just wasn’t going to stop me.

For the garnishes, I added some diced avocado, shredded cheddar cheese and crumbled up some Multigrain Scoops Tortilla Chips.  The cheese definitely helped mellow the spice.   It tasted soooo good!

Since my girls weren’t eating it,   I even had leftovers for lunch the next day. YUM!!!

I’m starting to feel that urge again!

Do you like Tortilla Soup?   Did you eat anything special for Cinco De Mayo?