Dec. 10, 2012: Chicken Tortilla Soup, Caesar Salad, Key Lime Pie

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Chicken Tortilla Soup, Caesar Salad, Key Lime Pie

When I started law school, Mondays became soup day at our house because I love soup and it's so easy to throw into the crockpot in the morning. This makes it a nice way to start a long week after a having to yank yourself out of your comfy weekend routine. And it's so wonderful to come home to an already done dinner after a long first day back into work or school routines.

 

BUT my kids and husband are not big soup fans. So I had to be careful about what soups to pick - they had to be closer to a meal in a bowl than a light broth-like appetizer. And it had to be interesting. Now -I still often do soups on Mondays but especially on cold days. And today looks like a blizzard outside. So I want to make them something inviting that will warm them from the inside out. 

 

I had a couple of avocados and several tomatoes that I needed to use, so I decided to go with Chicken Tortilla Soup. I have made this so many different ways - it's so versatile and would be really hard to mess up and easy to fix if you did. Some soups go really well with a bread-type side dish and since soups are often so filled with vegetables you don't have to worry about adding a side vegetable. But since I fry tortilla strips to top this soup, a bread side would be redundant. So I decided a salad would be best- but not one with tomatoes because the soup has tomatoes. Caesar Salad sounded perfect. Plus - I have half of a loaf of homemade French Bread left over from the other night I can use to make croutons. And since lime goes well with the ingredients in the soup and the limes I have need to be used soon - Key Lime Pie for dessert will be a great ending to this meal.

 

Main Entrée

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

As I said, I've made this soup so many different ways. And my family likes soups hearty - more like a meal. So I put 3 large chicken breasts in the microwave to defrost. While they were defrosting, I poured a large (28 oz) jar of red enchilada sauce into the crockpot. I added 2 cups water and 2 cubes of chicken bouillon (because I didn't have chicken stock/broth around).

I chopped 2 large onions and six Roma Tomatoes and threw them into the pot. Then I dumped 2 large cans of diced green chiles and 2 cups frozen corn into the crockpot. I chopped about 1/4 c. of cilantro and stirred it in. I added a heaping spoonful of minced garlic and then generously salted and peppered the soup.

When the chicken was defrosted, I cut it into chunks. Sometimes I pan fry the chicken before adding it - but it's not necessary when it's going to cook all day long and so I just threw it in raw.  

I wanted a little more spice - so I added about half a bottle of one of my favorite sauces. I found it at Walmart once and became addicted - Zaaschila Guacamole/ Avocado Salsa spread. It's like a green salsa with the flavor of guacamole. I love both the regular and the habanero variety. I used Zaaschila Guacamole with Chile Habanero, which is made with real avocados, habaneros, jalapeños and dairy cream. It'll go perfect in this soup.

 

Zaaschila Guacamole with Chile Habanero

About an hour before serving, I poured about 1 1/2 cups of uncooked white rice into the soup. It will soak up the flavor of the broth as it cooks.

After the soup was done, I took a dozen white corn tortillas and used a pizza cutter to slice them into thin strips - like this:

Corn tortillas sliced and ready to be cooked in hot oil

Then I heated oil in a medium size frying pan. I threw the tortilla strips in the hot oil and let them cook until golden brown, used tongs to take them out of the oil and put them on a paper towels to drain and then lightly sprinkled them with salt. I grated some pepper jack cheese and peeled and sliced the avocados.

 

I dished the soup into bowls, topped them with some shredded pepper jack cheese, slices of avocados, dollop of sour cream and topped it with the fried tortilla strips.

 

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch chunks

1 (28 oz) can of red enchilada sauce

2 cups water with 2 chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in

6 chopped Roma Tomatoes

2 large onions, chopped

2 large cans diced green chiles

2 c. frozen corn

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

1-2 Tbsp. minced garlic

salt, pepper (to taste)

1/2 bottle Zaaschila Guacamole with Chile Habanero

1 1/2 c. uncooked white rice 

dozen corn tortillas

oil, for frying

2 avocados, sliced

pepper jack cheese (for topping)

sour cream (for topping)

 

Side Dishes

 

CAESAR SALAD

Caesar Salad

 

My kids would never forgive me if they saw me use anchovies. So I found a version of Caesar dressing that doesn't use anchovies or anchovy paste - which is traditionally a staple in the dressing.

 

Caesar Dressing (w/o anchovies)

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 clove of minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp of milk or half and half  

 

Whisk all ingredients together. 

 

Croutons

1/2 loaf of French Bread, cut into crouton sized chunks

3 Tbsp. Olive oil

Garlic salt

 

Combine garlic salt, oil, salt, and bread cubes in a bowl or large plastic ziplock bag. Mix until cubes are coated evenly. Spread the coated cubes onto a baking sheet and bake at 375°F until the croutons are golden. This should take about 8-10 minutes

 

 

CAESAR SALAD

1 lb. Romaine lettuce (or 2 heads or Romaine torn into about 2 inch pieces)

Caesar dressing

Croutons

1/2 c. grated Parmesan (NOT the canned powdery kind)

 

Add Romaine to a large bowl. Add half the dressing, toss, add remaining dressing, Parmesan cheese, and croutons and toss again. Best served cold - so keep the lettuce and dressing chilled until ready to toss the salad.

 

Dessert

KEY LIME PIE

 

 

Limes - cut and ready to be squeezed

 I have tried various key lime pie recipes, but this one is the creamiest and best I have ever tried.

 

KEY LIME PIE

2 cans sweetened, condensed milk

1/2 c. sour cream

3/4 c. lime juice (6-8 limes, roll them against the counter with a flat palm before cutting them to get more juice out when you sqeeze them)

1 Tbsp. lime zest (grate the very outside of the rind, the green part only)

9 - inch graham cracker pie crust

 

Mix all ingredients and pour into pie crust. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Let cool and then refrigerated until well -chilled. Serve with or without whipped cream.

 

Cooked Key Lime Pie, ready to be chilled for serving