Told You I Was Making Soup

I had to.  I was so sick of my kids using their forks as weapons it was my only option.  Plus, I'm always craving this soup... even in the middle of a heatwave with a broken air-conditioner.  (Well, I did refuse to make it last Friday night when our a/c was out of freon. Again. But if someone else would have stood over the hot stove in my 91 degree house, then I would have had it that night too.)

Because it's one of my favorites and because it's so easy to make, I thought I'd share it with you.  And you can wait until the weather cools to make it or, (like me) make it regardless of the weather. 

So, here's my chicken tortilla soup.

The ingredients are:

Chicken Broth
Rotel (I use mild because I have young kids, but feel free to use something a bit spicier... I would if I could.)
A bag of frozen corn
A block of cream cheese (You can half it if you're the healthy type.  I rarely am.)
A lime
Adobo seasoning
Shredded Cheese
Tostitos Hint of Lime Chips (These have become a favorite around our house.)

And not pictured: a pound of skinless/boneless chicken breast

Let's address the chicken first. I cook it one of two ways. 1. If I don't want to clean any more than absolutely necessary, I throw the chicken in the the broth and let it boil until cooked, pull it out, chop it up into bite-sized pieces and then throw it back in.  2. If I'm in a hurry and don't want to wait for dinner, I throw it on the George Foreman grill and then chop it and throw it in with the rest of the ingredients.  Do whatever makes sense to you.

Now, for the soup.  There's no real measuring in this recipe, more of a dump and go method. Add the first three ingredients.  Cut the cream cheese block into pieces before adding it in so it will melt faster.  Squeeze in the juice of one lime.  Add Adobo seasoning to taste at the very last.  (Sometimes, if I feel like it and I have it on hand, I add in a drained can of black beans, too.  I didn't have it on hand last night.)  Make sure you add the chicken at some point or another, heat to a good temp for you and then you're ready to serve.  (I told you it was easy.)

Garnish with your chips and cheese.  Sometimes, if I have guests or just feel like being extravagant (I mean creating more clean-up when I say extravagant), we'll also garnish with sour cream and slices of avocado... not last night.  Still, pretty good.  Hope you enjoy!