Week 4 of 52 in 2010...

So here's our fourth new recipe for 2010...Chicken Tortilla Soup! The original came from Food Network's website and is another Rachel Ray. For the original click here.

Ingredients

• Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons -- 2 turns of the pot in a slow stream
• Couple of handfuls of frozen corn
• 1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
• 1.5 pounds chicken breast tenders
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
• 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/3 palm full (I love cumin so I used a tad more...)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 small to medium zucchini, small dice
• 1 large yellow skinned onion, chopped (I use a food processor and chopped half and then saved the other half to do with the chipotle in adobo peppers. This gives the spice and heat without overwhelming my small child!)
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 to 2 chipotle in adobo peppers (I used one for the first time making it and it was plenty...if you like super heat add another one!)
• 3 cans fire roasted tomatoes,
• 1 can tomato sauce, 8 ounces
• 3 cups chicken stock, available in re-sealable paper containers on soup aisle
• 4 cups blue corn tortilla chips, broken up into large pieces
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or pepper Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

Cut the bell pepper in to large pieces and place on a rimmed baking tray. Put under the broiler on low...check every so often till it's roasted to your liking. I did skin side up. Pull out and let cool. Chop all other veggies. I used a food processor for the onion, garlic, and chipotle.

Dice chicken. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot soup pot. Add chicken to pot. Season with poultry seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper. Lightly brown chicken on each side...till it has good color to it. Add zucchini, onions and garlic and chipotle peppers. Cook vegetables with chicken 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and stock. Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

Add frozen corn kernels and chopped roasted red bell pepper. Serve soup with scatter of shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend), blue corn chips, and a dollop of sour cream. You can also add avocado, raw onion, cilantro, or any other garnish of your choice.

**The original calls for grilled corn on the cob and red bell pepper. However, I'm in the market for a new grill pan and so I changed it to fit my needs. I plan to do this one again later the original way.

**Also, this made a ton of soup! It fed all three of us plus gave me left overs for two more meals...which I froze for a later date.