Our Easter Dinner

We had my mom and my in laws over for dinner last night. I didn't want to do our "normal" Easter dinner of Lasagna with homemade sauce plus meatballs. Tim suggested chili ...just 'cause it would be easy to throw together and serve. But no!! NO... I wanted to go all out crazy! LOL

I decided I wanted taco salad (Doritos, taco meat, lettuce, cheese, kidney beans, olives, tomatoes, onions, red/yellow/green bell peppers, salsa, sour cream, avocado) It was delicious!! BUT, did I stop there?
NOPE! I did not!!

In addition to my taco salad, I wanted Chicken Tortilla Soup.
Did I know how to make it?
NOPE, sure didn't!

So, I consulted my favorite uncle... Uncle Google! (I'm convinced my uncle knows EVERYTHING!) One of the first links he gave me was for Pioneer Woman's Chicken Tortilla Soup. It sounded so good... I got everything I needed and started cooking... well, started prepping- then cooking! It takes lots of prep-work, but it is SO worth it! You can click the link above to see PW's recipe, but I tweaked mine for what I had on hand...so I'll post below what I did!

First off... here's a picture so you can see how yummy...


NOW...
you KNOW you want to know HOW I made it since you can see how beautiful it is, right??


OK, here's the ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 yellow bell pepper diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 medium onion diced
5 cloves garlic chopped
5 cups chicken stock (5 C boiling water/5 chicken bouillon cubes)
1 15oz can black beans (drained, not rinsed)
1 15 oz can kidney beans (drained, not rinsed)
1 15 oz can RoTel (diced tomatoes with chilies)
3 Tbsp tomato paste
5 corn tortillas (sliced into even pieces)
3 Tbsp corn meal
Seasonings
(I used Lawrys seasoning salt, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, & cumin)
2 Tbsp olive oil

Here's what I did:

-Boil chicken until cooked through. Using 2 forks, shred all the chicken.
-In soup pot, saute veggies (peppers, onion, garlic) for 2-3 minutes
-Add chicken and stir around to mix up well.
-Add seasonings (don't overdo it though...may need to add more later)
-Add RoTel & mix well
-Pour in broth, bring to a boil
-Add beans (black & kidney)
-Add tomato paste
-Bring to boil again, reduce heat to simmer for about 30 minutes.
-Mix corn meal with little bit of water to make a paste-like substance and add to the simmering soup (this gives the soup a little extra corn-flavor)
-Let simmer about 30 more minutes.
-To quote the Pioneer Woman, "It’s time to give it a stir and take a nice taste or two. You really want the seasoning to be right, so add more salt if needed, more cumin if you need more of that deep, distinctive flavor, or more chili power if you need more heat."
- Time to turn off the burner...let it sit about 15 minutes before serving. Toss in your cut up corn tortillas- by the time it's ready to serve, they'll be cooked enough to enjoy!

For the toppings:
Avocado
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
(I used cheddar, but PW suggests Monterey Jack cheese)
Olives
Onion
Crispy tortilla strips
(you can fry some corn tortilla strips, but I bought these)


This recipe is a DEFINITE keeper! Can't wait to make more!!