Amber’s Chicken Tortilla Soup

Since I put my heavenly fleece sheets on, it has warmed back up… but it is raining, so that’s all the excuse I need to make soup. My friend Amber sent me this recipe a few days ago, her version of Chicken Tortilla Soup. I’m leaving for Montana today to visit my friend Megan on her ranch, so I made a huge batch last night so Curtis will have plenty to eat while I’m gone. I’ve included Amber’s original recipe below with my changes noted. We also tried Trader Joe's tamales and they're great! The soup is delicious!

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast (I used 2)
½ onion, diced (1 onion, diced)
2 cans diced tomatoes (1 - 28 oz. can)
1 small can diced green chilies
4 cups chicken stock (I put in a box and ½ of stock)
Dashes of Tabasco, to taste (I love spicy, hot, so I put in a big squirt of Sriracha sauce)

For later…
1 can corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado
Cheddar or Jack cheese, shredded
Crumbled tortilla chips

In a Crockpot, put in the chicken breast (whole), diced onion, canned tomatoes, green chilies, chicken stock and hot sauce. Let cook for about 4 hours on low, and then pull the chicken breast out and shred. Add shredded chicken back in soup and then add the corn and beans. Let the soup cook another 30 minutes to an hour.

To serve: Put a generous helping of shredded cheese and a handful of crumbled (but not too crumbled) tortilla chips on the bottom of each bowl. Fill each bowl with soup, add a little more cheese and chips to the top and finish off with fresh, cubed avocado.

In Amber’s words, “Seriously, Yum.”