Guest Post with Alycia: Tortilla Soup

Hey there! I'm Alycia Mealy of Wildflower. A lifestyle blog, including recipes and the occasional DIY project!

I am so excited to be guest posting today sharing one of my favorite recipes with you! This is the recipe that grew my love for mexican food! Growing up on the east coast about the closest thing we got to mexican food was good old taco bell. I never had real authentic mexican food until I moved to California and To be quite honest, I did not like it at first! But than I had this soup and couldn't believe how yummy it was! My mother -in-law would always make it for us, so a few years back I asked her for the recipe and have been making it ever since! I like to credit her amazing cooking to my new love of mexican food! So I am here to share this delicious recipe with you ...

You will need :

This recipe makes about 4 bowls of soup.

Ingredients

For the broth:

8 corn tortillas

2 teaspoons veg. oil

1 minced onion

1 garlic clove minced

3/4 cup tomato puree

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoon mild chili powder

1 teaspoon. ground cumin

2 bay leaves

8 cups chicken broth (or Rachel's Chicken stock recipe )

*Note if you want a bit more of a spicy flavor and are cooking for 2 use only 6 cups chicken broth

For the Soup (as much as desired for each bowl):

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Shredded cooked chicken

Diced avocado

Cilantro for garnish

The Steps:

               
The first few steps move pretty quickly so I like to have everything ready to go so that nothing burns!

Preheat the oven to 300. Cut the tortillas in matchsticks. Place them in an even layer on a baking sheet and toast in the oven about 15-20 minutes. 

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the minced onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, 5-6 minutes.

Add the tomato puree and continue to cook 3 min. Add the cilantro chili powder, and cumin, cook 2 min, stirring frequently (it will look almost like a paste)

Add the broth, one crushed tortilla and bay leaves. Stir well, let simmer for 25-30 min. 

When finished Strain the soup through a sieve

We like to set it all out schmorgus board style. Now your ready to Build your Bowl!

Place the cheese, chicken, chips and avocado in bowl (however much you like) and than pour the hot soup over top to melt the cheese!

               

Enjoy!

{Can't wait to try this! Thanks, Alycia!  - Rachel}