Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Life Is Good

I gave my last final tonight. I'll grade them tomorrow, but in the meantime I'm luxuriating in the feeling that comes from being done with classes for another semester - kind of like post-coital afterglow, but not quite as fulfilling.

It's still damp and cool down here, so I threw together a quick-and-dirty tortilla soup for dinner. I had some leftover chicken breasts from last weekend's rained-out hunt. They were wrapped in foil with bacon, chopped onion, garlic, and spices, then dropped in the campfire for about 45 minutes. Yummm...

The rest of the ingredients should be on hand in any reasonably well-stocked kitchen.

Normally when I make tortilla soup it's all from scratch, including the stock. However, since I'm at my bachelor pad in South Texas, rather than my fully stocked and equipped home kitchen, I opted for speed and convenience. It still came out pretty damn good.

Ingredients:

    1 onion, chopped
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tablespoons veggie oil
    4 teaspoons chili powder
    2 teaspoon ground cumin
    1 teaspoon dried oregano
    1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes
    4 15 oz. cans chicken broth (or 2 32 oz. boxes - I like the free range organic stuff)
    juice of 1 lime
    1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
    2 cups shredded leftover chicken or turkey
   
Optional Toppings:
    crushed tortilla chips or shredded fried tortillas (shred first, then fry)
    sliced avocado
    shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
    chopped green onions

Sauté onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add remaining ingredients. Stir well and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

The basic recipe is a little on the bland side, so feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste. For example, you could toss in a diced jalapeño to kick it up a notch. Another option, and one I really like, is to add a couple of tablespoons of chipotle flavored salsa or enchilada sauce. That gives it a nice smokey flavor.

I couldn't decide whether red or white wine would be best with this soup, so I went instead with Shiner. Of course, margaritas would also be a good choice.

Enjoy...

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