Chicken Tortilla Soup

I always loved Chicken Tortilla Soup. However, making one from scratch seems like a lot of work. Unless you are a stay home mom, spending 4-5 hours in front of stove just dose not seem to be a very exciting way to spend your Saturday afternoon. Since I am city girl with a busy social calendar (or at least I would like to pretend I do), I have found various ways to “cheat”. Move over Rachel Ray, here is my version of the Chicken Tortilla Soup in 30 minutes.

6 cups of chicken stock (I usually make my own, but the organic chicken stock sold in grocery stores works just fine.)
1 bag of Chicken Tortilla Soup mix (The one from Jewel is the best. It comes in a plastic bag with dried corn, beans, and herbals.)
1 jar of salsa
1/2 pound of 99% ground turkey breast (A healthier alternative and frankly I am just tired of eating chicken!)
2 cloves of garlic
salt, pepper, and chili power to taste
1 medium avocado
a few sprigs of cilantro

Step 1: Season the ground turkey breast with salt, pepper, 1 clove of minced garlic, and chili power. Make 10-12 meatballs out of the turkey breast.
Step 2: Add 1 tsp of olive oil in a large pot and brown the turkey meat balls till almost cooked through.
Step 3: Add 1 clove of chopped garlic, and six cups of chicken stock. Bring the mixture to boil then add the entire bag of the soup mix.
Step 4: Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes at medium heat then add 1/2 cup of salsa. Turn the heat down to low and let the soup simmer for another 10 minutes before serving.

I like to crumble some tortilla chips on top of the soup and serve it with chopped avocado, and cilantro. Instead of soft tortilla, I would recommend to try it with pretzel bread!



photos by Lovehandle