Chicken Sans Tortilla Soup

My friend Becca posted a link to a recipe on Facebook that looked interesting. It was called a fast tortilla soup. The only problem was, there wasn't a tortilla in sight anywhere in the recipe. But the recipe looked good, and I had a ton of cooked leftover rice sitting in my fridge, so I decided to give it a shot. This really does have the flavor of a tortilla soup, and I suppose you could add the tortillas, but I don't think you need them, unless you wanted to use them as a thickener. Click HERE to go directly to the link where I got the recipe. Or just check out the recipe below.

Chicken Sans Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
2 cans of diced tomatoes (don’t drain)(14.5 oz cans)
2 cans of chicken broth (14.5 oz cans)
1 cup of salsa
1 clove minced garlic
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. dried cilantro or ground coriander
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
Salt
Pepper

Serve with: avocado, rice, sour cream, tortilla chips and cilantro

1. Cook your chicken and shred. I roasted mine in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then shredded with two forks.

2. Put the chicken in large pot. Add the two cans of tomatoes, chicken broth, salsa, garlic, butter, coriander and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. **I found that this needed salt, as I used low sodium chicken broth and canned, diced tomatoes with no added salt, but if you aren't using low-salt ingredients, you might not need to add salt.

3. In a bowl, add 1/2 cup of rice. (I used brown basmati rice - you could use whatever kind you like.) Ladle soup over the top. Spread avocado over the top. Add a dollop of sour cream, if desired. Serve warm.

Delicious, comforting and filling - met all of my Friday night requirements!