Tortilla Soup

Tender, savory pulled chicken

in a homemade spicy broth...

Made from the freshest natural ingredients, this mexican style soup is hearty, nutritious, and wonderfully flavorful. Round out this meal with whole grain sweet cornbread and a crisp green salad. What I love about this soup is that the broth packs serious "health food" nutrition, and my vegetable-wary husband didn't even blink while wolfing this down.

Soup base:

3 cups low sodium chicken, beef, or vegetable broth

1 roma tomato, quartered

1 carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 slice onion, peeled

1 garlic glove, minced

1 slice yellow squash

1 slice each bell pepper, any color (or one of each)

1/4 cup diced green cabbage

1 mushroom

salt and pepper, to taste

1 tsp taco seasoning

1/4 tsp cumin

Optional ingredients:

leftover rotisserie chicken

1/2 fresh jalapeno

1/2 cup unsalted corn

cooked brown rice

few handfuls of tortilla chips

1. If you have leftover rotisserie chicken, add to pot with water, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salt. Boil to make fresh chicken broth. Remove chicken, set aside to cool, and use broth in soup base, if desired. Otherwise, any broth will work.

2. Place 1/2 cup broth and all soup base ingredients into a blender or the large container of a food processor. Puree while slowly adding the rest of the broth until smooth and soupy, several minutes. Season broth to taste.

3. If adding optional ingredients, reduce speed and drop in ingredients, except chips.

4. Return soup to pot and heat until desired. Just before serving, crunch tortilla chips over the top.

Other delicious toppings include sliced avocado, sour cream, and shredded mexican cheese.

Makes 5 cups (without optional ingredients)

per cup:

36 cal

3 g protein

1 g fat

5 g carb

1 g fiber

2 g sugar

• Vibrant, fresh vegetables host a wealth of vitamins and minerals with little caloric intake. Multivitamins are great, but often fail to deliver because the combinations of nutrients and enzymes of fresh produce cannot be reproduced. Fresh is best.
• To get the most satisfaction out of your food and caloric intake, choose whole grains and fresh, brightly colored produce, and lean meats. You can get more nutrition for less calories, cut weight, and not feel hungry or deprived.