Skinny Tortilla Soup

Today's recipe is the perfect pre-thanksgiving meal. It's not heavy and won't leave you feeling gross before you eat a 3,000 calorie dinner tomorrow evening (not including the booze). I wasn't kidding about the 3,000 calories. I won't lie, if you're one of those people that isn't against dinner foods for breakfast (i.e. leftover pizza, mashed potatoes, sushi?), then this tortilla soup is excellent for breakfast with an over-easy egg.

This version of tortilla soup utilizes Reduced Guilt tortilla chips from TJ's, though you could easily pick up another version of reduced calorie tortilla chips in baked form.

Truly, what makes restaurant tortilla soup dangerous is not the soup itself - it's the toppings! If you douse anything in large amounts of avocado, full fat sour cream, full fat cheese, and deep fried chips, it's going to be less than healthy. Case in point: taco salad. Argument over.

So, with recipe inspiration cred to Ms. Rachael Ray, I bring to you a skinnied up version of tort soup.

Skinny Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 2 chicken breasts, diced
• S&P
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 2 celery ribs, finely diced
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp coriander
• 2 c. reduced guilt/baked tortilla chips
• 1 quart chicken stock/broth
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
• Toppings of your liking:
• Fat free greek yogurt
• Hot sauce like Cholula or Tapatio
• Avocado, sliced
• Lime wedges
• Reduced fat shredded mexican blend cheese
• Reduced guilt/baked tortilla chips

Instructions

• In a soup pot, heat EVOO over med-high heat
• Season chicken with S&P, lightly brown in pot
• While chicken is browning, get together garlic, bell pep, onion, jalapeno, and celery
• Add all veg to pot along with cumin and coriander and a pinch more of salt
• Cook for a few minutes until veg starts to soften up, stirring frequently
• In the meantime, food process, or crush, the 2 cups of tortilla chips. This part is a little weird, but it's what thickens the soup and it makes it super good. So trust me.
• Add tortilla chip crumbs to pot, and stir to incorporate into the chicken/veg mixture
• Add broth, zest and juice of 1 lime (I throw in the limes after I squeeze out the juice. I like it limey)
• Let her simmer on low for 15 minutes for all the flavors to have a little party
• When ready to serve, throw in the cilantro and stir it up
• Ladle up and garnish to your liking

strangely delicious!

I served the soup with black bean quesadillas. This not only prevented me from gorging on chips, it also provided more protein in the meal. TJ's has blue corn tortillas that look cool, taste great, and are only 60 calories.

it's not a white balance problem.

This recipe is not super brothy like traditional tortilla soup because of the crushed chips. It's almost chowder-y because of the thickness. Highly recommended! You could always reduce the amount of crushed chips or increase the amount of broth to reach your desired soup thickness balance. It would also be a great way to utilize left over turkey after T-day! Just omit the chicken browning step and toss in the cooked turkey after the veg is browned. 

Happy Thanksgiving readers!