I was just thinking about how much has changed this past year. I mean isn’t it a bit exhilarating how fast life happens? We’re learning tough truths, letting go of the things that are out of our control, and heck, we’re growing and changing!
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Last year I was working on the east coast. I barely had any time to blog and was struggling with what I wanted to do with my life. I referred to it as my early quarter life crisis. It was like when Felicity had to choose Ben or Noah, and decided to become an artist (seriously, go buy all the seasons of Felicity). Anyway, it wasn’t until I was completely lost did I discover my passion that I absolutely had to pursue. It was so obvious at that point: food is the recipe to my heart and happiness! I love creating it, photographing it, and eating it.
I know I talk a lot about following your dreams and living your passion, but that’s because I completely believe in it! Helping you, whether it’s in your kitchen or in your life is essentially apart of my success.
Today’s success comes in the form of soup. A soup that I’m completely in love with. Of course, I’m in love with a lot of things, but simple soup fills me up with contentment. Adding crispy lime and salt studded corn tortilla chips on top just makes it that much better.
The soup itself is fairly simple to throw together and perfect on those cold winter nights. I call it a Pollo (chicken) soup because it has delicious Spanish flavors. The chicken is rubbed with chili spices, cumin, fresh lime juice, and a bit of Sriracha. The spices are additionally added to the broth of the soup to give it a slight kick.
I found myself slurping the broth from the bowl, craving more. As I helped myself to another cup, I realized that I needed a crunch — sort of like a tortilla soup has. So I took couple of corn tortillas and brushed them with a little olive oil, then sprinkled them with a bit of lime juice and sea salt. Then I placed a griddle on medium high and cooked them on each side until golden brown and crispy. They broke apart like real tortilla chips, and I felt happy since they were a bit healthier.
This soup! It’s completely comforting, especially during the holidays to escape from all of that rich food.
I hope you make it. It’s my new favorite.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Chili Chicken Soup with Bell Pepper + Hominy
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders
- 2 tablespoons chili powder, divided
- 2 teaspoons cumin, divided
- 2 teaspoon oregano, divided
- 2 teaspoon sriaracha chili sauce
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to season
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 yellow pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1 orange pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and diced
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 cups water
- 2 - 15 oz cans of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 2- 15 oz cans of white hominy, rinsed and drained
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the chicken and sprinkle with lime juice, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon oregano, and a bit of salt and pepper. Drizzle with sriracha and gently rub to evenly coat chicken. Let the chicken marinate while you cut up the bell peppers and onion. If you aren't a fan of spicy foods, then omit the sriracha.
- Place a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil and heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Add the marinated chicken and saute 8-10 minutes or until done; remove from pot and set on a plate to cool. Once cool, pull apart or chop the chicken and set aside.
- Add the bell peppers, onions, garlic, and jalapeño to the pot. Add the rest of the chili powder, cumin, oregano and a bit of salt and pepper to the veggies. Stir to coat and cook until the veggies are tender about 8-10 minutes.
- Next add chicken broth, water, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, add hominy and chicken back in and simmer for 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Garnish with avocado, cilantro, and fresh cheese. Serve with corn chips (homemade if you like).
How much is a sprinkle of lime? Just curious because a sprinkle to me is like 2 or 3 drops, but my mom says a sprinkle is like a whole lime. I think she is wrong because she said it was sprinkling outside the other day and it was raining really hard. Get back to me ASAP. I’m in the middle of making the soup. Hehehe lol. Ur great btw!!!!!
Printed this out to give it a try, but I noticed the recipe seems to be missing 2 things.
(1) When is the water added? Presumably along with the broth.
(2) When is the shredded chicken reintroduced? From looking at your pictures, it looks like it soaked in the broth, so I’d guess adding it along with the hominy.
Thanks!
Hi! Sorry about that. I’ve fixed the directions! 🙂
What a warming and soul-soothing soup! I love it!
Such a timely post because I feel confused when I’m too busy too blog too… but it’s where my heart lies! The soup looks GOOD and perfect for today’s strange weather in Texas!
yumm! i made a chicken tortilla soup recently and it just warms up the soul!
I want to wrap my hands around a warm bowl of soup like this! There’s nothing better to eat on a cold winter’s night!
Pretty sure one of my dreams in life is to have this soup. It looks SO yummy (and perfect for a chilly today like today).