Southwestern Chicken and Rice Soup

It’s a couple of days past Thanksgiving, and time to put up the Christmas Lights! yay! Christmas music listening starts in my car as soon as the Christmas radio station starts but the decorations, well, I wait till after Thanksgiving. Only seems fair.

With Watson’s help, the lights were up in no time at all! After a chilly day outdoors, soup and my first non-sweet post was in order! Made with homegrown organic jalapenos, cilantro, and avocado, this Southwestern Chicken and Rice Soup is delicious and a step up from the ordinary.

Southwestern Chicken and Rice Soup with Tortilla Strips

Ingredients

1 medium onion

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium sized red bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

3/4 cups uncooked white rice

2 medium plum tomatoes, chopped

1 to 2 tbsp. pickled jalapeno slices or fresh jalapenos

1 tsp cumin

black pepper

8 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped

Juice of one lime

1 ripe avocado

Tortilla stripes

Directions

Saute onion, carrot, and bell pepper in vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat about 7 minutes until veggies are tender. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.

Stir in chicken, rice, tomatoes, jalapeno, cumin, and black pepper. Then add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked. Serve with chopped cilantro, slices of lime, chopped avocado, and tortilla stripes.

To make tortilla stripes, cut 6 corn tortillas into strips, place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until crisp.

Enjoy!

Cilantro Chopping Technique:

Hold cilantro stalks then lightly “shave” leaves off by not cutting, but lightly running the knife from top of leaves to bottom. So much faster then picking the leaves off one by one.