Hello lovelies,

Its been a while since I've posted a recipe, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I made a super tasty batch of soup earlier this week and if nothing else than to get it all written down, I share with you all. Really, the ingredients are nothing remarkable, I think I just got all the portions right (which is ironic b/c I didn't follow a recipe, so we'll see if I can remember all the amounts.) Anyway, hope you have occasion this chilly winter to try...

CHICKEN VEGGIE TORTILLA SOUP

1/2 of a whole chicken (cooked and shredded)
3/4 c black beans
3-4 c chicken or vegetable stock
1 med onion
5 cloves garlic
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t cumin
1 t onion pwd
1 t garlic pwd
1 t paprika
1 t oregano
1 t parsley
1/2 spaghetti squash
1/2 bunch of kale
4 tomatoes
1 avacado
1 bunch cilantro
chips

Disclaimer: This soup took ALL afternoon. But you can bypass a few of the more lengthy steps if you prefer. Here's how. I cooked a whole fryer chicken in my crockpot, (with salt and garlic pepper), tore it all up and saved half for my soup. That took a while. You could just buy a pre-cooked chicken at Costco or wherever. Next there's the beans. I've taken to buying dry beans and cooking them myself. With my 3/4 cup black beans that took an extra 2.5 hours. You could just get the beans in the can and save the time, (though I think cooking them yourself gives them better flavor). Lastly there's the squash. Cut it in half, put it in a baking dish with some water in the bottom and cover with tinfoil. Cook it for an hour or a little less at 350. That's all the tedious steps.

Then there's just the chopping of carrots, celery and onion. I sauteed the onion first, with garlic, some evoo and some s & p. Then added carrot and celery. Simmered for 5 min and added the 6 spices. (salt--parsley) Cook another few, and then add beans. Oh yeah, and with those beans... if you cook them yourself, you boil, then let sit for an hour or two, drain, then simmer for another hour or two. I kept the water from the simmer and added a few Tbs of chicken stock (from Costco). Then added that to my simmering veggies. Then I added the kale and squash and another few cups of water until the broth tasted right. Let all that simmer for at least 20 min to get the kale soft. Oh yeah, and feel free to add the cooked and shredded chicken at this point. (I had also brined mine for a couple days before hand so it already had good flavor.)

Lastly add tomatoes, avocado and cilantro. Crush your chips in your own bowl, mix and enjoy!

**My biggest secret is the seasonings. A friend made a similar soup that actually won a category in our ward's chili cookoff (though I would NOT call this a chili), and I asked her what her secret was b/c it was so flavorful. She had used a hispanic brand of seasoning from the grocery store called "total seasoning". I went to the store to look at the ingredients. MSG was the 2nd after salt, so I was like, forget that. And just added everything but the MSG to my soup. Hope you try it and like it!