Southwest Chicken Soup & Homemade Tortilla Chips

Those of you who have been around for a while probably recognize my inclination towards recipes that are fairly quick and easy... but they also must taste good. I came across something similar to what I am going to share in a Real Simple from November 2004 and changed it up a little {because it called for kidney beans and they are my least favorite of all the beans}.

So, this is all you will need for the soup:

1 jar of salsa verde (I used the Pace that is pictured above)
1 rotisserie chicken
1 (15 oz) can of navy beans drained (I used Bush's)
1 (large 49oz) can of chicken stock (I only used about 2/3 of the can)

garnish: shredded cheddar, sour cream & tortilla chips

Remove skin from chicken and shred meat with forks. Combine all ingredients into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 mins. I used the entire jar of salsa verde and it's "make-your-nose-sweat hot"... if medium salsa is too hot for you... just add 1/2 the jar of salsa.

Since that was so EASY...

Why don't you make your own tortilla chip strips to go on top?

While your soup is simmering, in a large frying pan add about 1/2 inch of oil {I used canola but peanut would be good too} and set to medium heat.

Here's what you'll need for your tortilla chips:

CORN. CORN. I repeat CORN TORTILLAS... not flour. Unless you like flour tortilla chips-- I don't and they would be nasty and disintegrate in your soup. So be sure to buy CORN TORTILLAS.... remember these are not your "usual flour tortilla wraps" that you make tacos with, they are CORN. I bought white corn but you could buy yellow corn. They're either with the flour tortillas in the bread aisle or in the ethnic food aisle with ham bullion. :)

Cut them up like this:

While you're at it, just for fun {and to impress your husband and kids} go ahead and cut some triangles to make some "real" homemade tortilla chips.

Ok, back to the thin sticks. You'll want to cut them in half before you fry them so that your family members can get them onto their spoons and into their mouths. These haven't been cut in half yet.

Fry them for about 4 mins. You'll know the oil is hot enough when you drop 1 in and it bubbles and floats to the top quickly. If it sinks and sits there... you're not hot enough yet. Once you are hot enough you can lower your temp to low/med.

Throw them on some paper towels, cover them with paper towels and give them a good shake so you can get a lot of the grease off. Then douse them with salt.

And then put them on top of your soup.

I promise they are so easy and so good! They'd also be good on a taco salad!

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In the earlier post about all the insane things... the wooden blocks are Melissa & Doug.

In Friday's post about Cheerios... our floors are prefinished pecan in saddle stain from Howell Flooring. They are a local company owned by a family in our church but I believe they will sell and ship nationwide. There is a phone number on their contact page and I'm sure any of their sales reps can answer any questions you may have... and you can tell them I sent you! :)

Also, I'm using flickr to host all my pictures and to make a long story short I am no longer able to use "spell check" so please exkuse iny speling airs. I think I said we were "fever invested" last week and there have been a few others here and there. Erika and I have had some pretty good laughs about some of my mistakes! :)

Good night friends! Make some Southwest Chicken Soup before it gets hot out!