Rachael Ray’s Santa Fe-Tastic Tortilla Soup

Summertime is soup time. Just because the weather is warm doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a healthy bowl of delicious broth, vegetables and tender chicken breast meat, all perfectly seasoned. Tina’s Recipe of the Week is a light Southwestern dish – by all accounts perfect for cool and arid weather alike – that Food Network star Rachael Ray calls her Why the Chicken Crossed the Road Santa Fe-tastic Tortilla Soup. It’s an easy dish that takes about 25 minutes and serves four.

Tina recommends using Kirkland chicken tenders (but of course). Pair it with a Blue Moon Belgium White Ale and slice of orange for maximum effect.

We’ll be enjoying some time off over the next few weeks, so we’ll most likely be posting more frequently for our adoring public – and making more Costco trips, for sure. Check back often!

Ingredients

• Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons - 2 turns of the pot in a slow stream
• 3 ears corn on the cob or 2 ears fresh-frozen cobs, defrosted
• 1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
• 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/3 palm full
• Salt and pepper
• 1 small to medium zucchini, small dice
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 to 2 chipotle in adobo peppers (medium to hot heat level), chopped -- available in small cans in Mexican and Spanish food section of market
• 1 can stewed tomatoes, 28 ounces
• 1 can tomato sauce, 8 ounces
• 3 cups chicken stock, available in re-sealable paper containers on soup aisle
• 4 cups blue corn tortilla chips, broken up into large pieces
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or pepper Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Optional garnishes

• 1/4 red raw onion, chopped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
• 1 ripe avocado, diced and dressed with the juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

Heat a grill pan to high and a soup pot to medium high. Drizzle oil on corn and place on grill. Add red pepper to grill with corn. Char vegetables 10 minutes total, turning occasionally. Remove to cool, 5 minutes. Remove charred skin from the pepper.

While vegetables are cooking, dice the chicken. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot soup pot, then add chicken to pot. Season with poultry seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper.

Lightly brown chicken on each side. Add zucchini, onions and garlic and chipotle peppers.
Cook vegetables with chicken 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and stock.
Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

Scrape corn off cob and add to soup. Chop grilled red pepper and stir into soup. Add chips to soup in handfuls and fold in.

Serve soup immediately with scatters of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Top with any or all of the suggested garnishes.

Top photo courtesy of Food Network. Left photo courtesy of FHM Magazine, and the bottom image comes from Blue Moon Belgium White Ale.