Chicken Tortilla Soup

Rough chop carrots, celery, bell pepper, onion and half of the cilantro leaves and place in a food processor. Chop until minced. (If you do not have a food processor, get your aggressions out and hand chop as fine as you can. Or you can use a cheese grater.)

Heat up the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add in chopped veggies. Saute for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add in garlic, pepper, salt, cumin, and chili powder. Stir to combine. Pour chicken stock and water. Bring to a boil.

While soup is boiling, prepare your roux (pronounced “roo”) a.k.a. thickener. In a small pot heat the butter until melted. Add in flour all at once and whisk vigorously until combined. Cook for 1 minute. Pour into boiling soup mixture and whisk to combine. Add in chicken and turn down to medium heat. Cook for 15 minutes.

In the food processor, chop diced tomatoes until about half in size. Add tomatoes and corn and simmer for 10 minutes. Finely chop the remaining 1/2 bunch cilantro and stir into the soup. Serve with cheese and fried tortilla strips. If you are a fan of sour cream, by all means, add a dollop! This recipe freezes really well.