Friday, July 23, 2010

D-Feast Friday - Leftover-Chicken Tortilla Soup

Welcome to D-Feast Friday.  I am sharing a recipe I made up after trying Chicken Tortilla Soup for the first time at a restaurant.  It was so good (except for the corn kernels floating around in there, which I left out of my version), so when I got home I thought about what was in it and came up with this recipe.  It's a great way to use up leftover roasted chicken or rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.


Leftover-Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 yellow onion, diced
2 cubanelle peppers or 1 bell pepper, diced
Chicken breast, cooked and cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (I like McCormick Grill Mates Montreal)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup rice (I use organic brown rice)
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (such as Del Monte Zesty Mild Green Chili)
2 quarts chicken broth (I use Pacific Organic broth)
Toppings: tortilla chips, shredded cheese and sour cream or plain Greek yogurt


Heat a large soup pot over medium heat.  If I'm roasting a whole chicken at home, I roast the onion and pepper right along with it so it's ready to go for the soup.  If using leftover rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken, add some olive oil to the pot, dice the onion and pepper and sauté until they begin to soften.


Now dump in the chicken pieces and spices.


Next, add the rice and the can of tomatoes.  I always add the stock last.  Why?  Because if I put the stock in first and then try to dump in the rice or tomatoes, there is major splashage and I make a big mess of the stove-top!


Now, turn the heat all the way up to high until the soup comes to a gentle boil.  Then turn the heat way down low and put a lid over the pot loosely, leaving a crack for the steam to escape.  Let the soup simmer until the rice is cooked and tender.  The longer the soup is left to simmer, the better the flavors will be.  (This soup is also even better the next day.)


When it's time to eat, gather your toppings.  I used baked tortilla chips and non-fat Greek yogurt in order to eliminate some of the fat and calories.  I use full fat cheese though, because I just don't like low-fat cheeses.


Ladle your soup into your bowl.  Sprinkle the cheese on top, and then add as many crumbled tortilla chips as you'd like.  (I tend to use a lot, making my soup not-so-low-carb.)  Spoon a dollop of yogurt or sour cream in the center.  And enjoy!!

This recipe makes about 8 servings of soup.  (Although when we have it for dinner, we usually eat two servings each.)  Before adding the toppings, each serving of soup has about 12 grams of carbohydrates if you use the Pacific Organic chicken stock.  (Each quart of stock has 4 grams of carbs - if you use a different brand you'll need to check the carb content and adjust accordingly.)  I weigh out my tortilla chips on a food scale before adding them to my soup so I can get an accurate count of the carbs I'm eating.

Click here to download this recipe in .pdf form.

Do you have a recipe you'd like to share for D-Feast Friday?  Post it on your blog, then come back here and click the D-Feast Friday button to add your post to the link list. Put the name of your recipe in the "Your Name" box and the URL of your blog post in the "Your URL" box.

15 comments:

  1. YUM! I can't wait to see all of these recipes today. This soup looks fantastic!

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  2. Looks great and I LOVE the pdf file version! Very nifty!

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  3. That looks really good, even for someone who doesn't like soup! (and nice chicken broth you use...)

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  4. yummy! I know what's for dinner tonight =) (I like corn so I might try adding some to mine)

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  5. yum!...i'll definitely try your soup!...this is great, Karen...and i'm so happy to see "low carb pancakes" on the list!!...i'm gonna go make a shopping list!

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  6. wow, that soup looks really good. I'll definately have to try to make that!

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  7. I can't wait to try this soup. Yum! Thanks for helping put together D-Feast Friday. It's such a great idea!

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  8. yay, another DOC group activity! Great stuff.

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  9. Sounds and looks delicious!!

    One thing though...what are "left overs??" My 4 boys eat every bite of dinner. :)

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  10. This looks GREAT! Thanks for sharing and adding the little PDF button - how cool is that?????

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  11. The soup looks good. When I come to visit, could you make it for me?

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  12. Thank you so much for also posting the PDF link. It is so nice not to have to copy and paste. I just started a blog last Sunday Living as a PWD http://pwdtype2.blogspot.com. I have type 2 and will be checking back again.

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  13. Hi Karen, I finally got around to trying one of your recipes - the tortilla soup. It was great. Thank you for posting all these great ideas. With a little summer time on my hands, I'm going to try a few more adventures in the kitchen! Take care. Norm

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  14. Yum! This sounds awesome...I love this version of tortilla soup! I'm actually on a quest to find my favorite Tortilla Soup right now...and would love it if you'd link up and throw yours into the mix!! My quest is here http://girlichef.blogspot.com/2010/05/tortilla-soup-challenge-please-join-me.html...I round up all the different versions every other month, or so! I feel the urge for a bowl coming on now!! =)

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