Orange Tortilla Soup

It still refuses to warm up here in Northern Utah. Normally, we hit the mid 90's by this time, but the last week has been rainy and grey with lows of 50. Reminds me of Chicago. In October. And November. And March. And almost every other month of the year. Our guests, Ron and Elaine, actually said it was warmer here than back home. They must be lying. This gloom was actually welcome for a few days, but I'm done now. Rain, rain, go away.

To warm up our bones, I made the ever popular Orange Tortilla Soup for our guests on Sunday. This recipe comes from our ever popular neighbor Laura M. Hopefully, I'm still popular with her after I share her recipe with the internet. Love ya, Laura~

Ingredients:

1 Medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Clove garlic, minced
4 Celery stalks sliced
3 Tbs vegetable oil
2-1/2 Cups vegetable or chicken broth
1-1/2 Cups orange juice
1-1/2 Cups tomato sauce (14 oz can is fine)
1 Cup water
1 (4 oz) Can green chilies chopped
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
3 - 4 Carrots sliced
3 or 4 Chicken breasts
Pepper Jack cheese grated
Tortilla chips

Chop your celery and onions. Mince garlic and slice carrots. Do yourself a favor and buy pre chopped chiles. I bought the whole so I had to chop.

Saute onion, garlic and celery in 3 Tbs of vegetable oil.

Stir in broth, OJ, tomato sauce, chilies, cilantro and carrots. Simmer until carrots are tender.

In the meantime, cook your chicken. I prefer to cook chicken breast in a non-stick pan. I heat 2 TB of oil on med-high heat, salt and pepper the breast, cook on each side about 5 min on that higher heat, then turn the heat to med-low. Do not cover!!! Big mistake. You end up with boiled chicken. I leave the lid off until almost done - you can tell you've overcooked chicken breast when it doesn't give anymore when you press with the back of your fork. I prefer to a point where it might still be a bit underdone and then take off heat and let it sit for another 10 minutes or so. Its usually perfect. Clear as mud? Sorry.

Cut or shred your chicken into bite size chunks and add to your soup. Cook another 5 minutes or so and its ready. Just make sure your carrots are tender.

Serve by placing tortilla chips (crunched or not) at the bottom of your soup bowl, ladle soup over and top with shredded jack cheese.