Soups | Bake No Prisoners

Ever since I made chicken soup with my Mom over the winter break, I have been wanting to come up with something a bit more exotic in the terms of soup. I am not overly excited about soup in general, but I thought if I could create a soup that I would enjoy, then other people who put soup low on their favorite foods list, might like it as well. I love my Mom’s chicken soup because I grew up having it for dinner and it reminds me of all the fond memories we had as a family sitting around the kitchen table. I am also in love with her homemade biscuits and honey she makes to go along with it. I can eat an entire bowl of her chicken soup, along with 3-4 biscuits and honey any day of the week.

No lie…I can…

Don’t dare me….because I will do it.

So I thought about the soups I don’t mind very often. Two came to mind. Chili…which isn’t necessary a soup, but whatever. It totally counts in my book because it is not only served in a bowl, but is also eaten with a spoon. And Chicken Tortilla soup with all its crunchy and spicy goodness. And what if I combined the best parts of these two soups. You’ve got the beans, cheese, and onions from the chili. And the chicken, green chilies, and tortilla strips from the Chicken Tortilla soup. Combined is absolute yummy deliciousness – to quote one of my students.

Chicken Tortilla Chili

Recipe by Carrie

Ingredients

3 boneless chicken breasts
3/4 cup chicken broth
3 garlic gloves, minced
1 yellow onion diced, or in my case 1/2 teaspoon asafetida due to the hubster's onion allergy
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Tabasco Green Pepper sauce
a few sprigs of cilantro
2 15 ounce cans diced tomatoes, juice included
2 cans of white beans - great northern/cannellini
1 4 ounce jar chopped green chilies
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 avocado, sliced
1/2 lime, squeezed
tortilla strips

Instructions

In your blender, empty your cans of diced tomatoes and all the juice, garlic, onion or asafetida, cumin, cilantro Tabasco, and chicken broth. Blend until all ingredients are incorporated into a thick sauce.
Salt and pepper you chicken breasts and then place in your crock pot. Pour your sauce over the chicken and cook on high for 3 hours.
When chicken is tender, shred with a fork.
Drain the white beans and add to your crock pot, along with the green chilies and frozen corn. Squeeze half a lime as well into your pot and let it continue to simmer for another 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, spoon chili into your bowl and top with cheese, tortilla strips, and avocado. Enjoy!

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I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the beginning of August. Where has the summer gone? Normally, I would be pretty bummed that my summer was almost over, but I am, in fact, super excited for all the upcoming changes in my work life. In just a few, short weeks, I am starting at a new charter school, teaching a new grade, and am currently a part of 3 book studies to better my career as an educator. Whoa! Now that is some serious change!

So to celebrate the near end of summer, I have found a watermelon gazpacho recipe from Food Buzz that I would love to share with you! What fruit could be more fitting for summer than watermelon! And I just love the spiciness of the jalapeno and the bite of rice vinegar in this cold, but refreshing soup! This recipe is fairly simple and quick, so whip up a batch and impress your husbands ladies!! This is one recipe I plan to make, freeze, and pull out this winter to remind me of these hot, dog days of summer!!

Ingredients:

1 small seedless watermelon, cut up into chunks

1 jalapeno pepper

3 stalks of green onion, sliced thinly

1 lime

¼ cup of mint leaves

1 tablespoon of rice vinegar

sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Put the watermelon chunks into a large bowl (you should use approximately 3 cups worth). Reserve a few chunks for garnish.

Zest the lime over the watermelon and squeeze the lime juice into the bowl.

Cut a few thin slices of the jalapeno pepper and set aside for garnish. Finely dice the rest of the jalapeno (make sure to remove the seeds) and add to the bowl.

Add in the green onions (reserve some for garnish), rice vinegar and mint leaves, stirring to combine.

Transfer the mixture into a blender, whipping until creamy and smooth.