Chicken Tortilla Soup

I'm pretty proud of myself. 

I cooked a great supper 2 nights in a row.

Lately, I've been otherwise distracted and cooking, the way I normally do it, has taken a back seat.

Yesterday, I made a tomato-free version of Chicken Tortilla Soup. 

I didn't even miss the tomatoes.

So, so yummy...

Two nights ago I roasted a delicious whole organic chicken. 

With the remaining chicken and carcass, I made the broth for the soup.

I threw in some carrots, onion and garlic and filled my pot with water and let it simmer all day.

Another big pat on my back, because this beckons to the olden days (before child number 2) when I used to meticulously meal plan.

I'd incorporate every detail to use and reuse everything we had on hand for delicious meals.

I've had a twinge of guilt hanging over my head lately about being so wasteful.

I'm kicking my own butt back into gear.

Okay, 

Back on topic...soup!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

-pot full of chicken stock (yeah, I don't really measure)

-1 can of black beans

-1 can of white northern beans (if I'd really been on top of my game, I'd have used dried beans)

-1 cup of frozen corn (off the cob)

-2 carrots, diced

-1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

-3-4 cloves of garlic, diced

-1 diced pepper...I was going to use a red bell pepper, but it was past due :( I'd imagine any pepper to your liking would make a great addition to this soup

-2 cups of cooked rice 

-Spices...approximately (because again, I don't measure) 1 Tablespoon of paprika & chili powder

-1/2 cup of heavy cream (or for dairy free use plain almond milk or other df milk)
salt & pepper to taste

Also, if you're not tomato-free like we are (99.9% of the time, sometimes I must cheat), then a nice addition to the soup would be a jar of canned tomatoes from last summer's garden. What you don't can your own? Well, you should. Grocery store tomatoes are not real tomatoes. :) Or at least, that's the Sanders' family opinion.

Optional Garnishes: avocado, sour cream, green onions, cheese, tortilla chips, cornbread, cilantro...

After making my stock, I strained it and picked the remaining meat off the chicken. After sauteeing the onion, garlic and peppers, add  everything but the rice and heavy cream. Let it cook until the carrots are tender. Add in the rice and cook for another several minutes. Taste to adjust for any seasonings. Just before serving stir in the heavy cream. 

I garnished mine with avocado and crumbled up homemade cornbread. It was delish!!

And don't worry, I'm sure I'll eat another bowl soon and update this post with a lovely picture :)