chicken tortilla soup {paleo and gluten free}...

I woke up today and it felt like fall.  There was a nice crisp feeling to the air and it was 58 degrees.  So I decided to make soup to celebrate the fall-ish weather.  By the time I finished making my chicken tortilla soup, it was 78 degrees and I had shed my yoga pants and jacket for shorts and a tank top and was contemplating putting on the a/c.  It's not uncommon here in the mid-atlantic to have a 20 degree change in the weather during the change of seasons, it makes dressing the kids for school challenging.

This recipe is so easy and it comes together in under 30 minutes, including chopping and dicing time.  Plus it's chock full of yummy, healthy veggies.

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

1-2 T coconut oil
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced or mashed
1 jalepano pepper, seeded and diced (leave in more seeds for more heat)
1 T chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
2 cans of diced tomatoes (no sugar added)
1 box gluten free chicken stock or 4 cups homemade stock
1 cup cooked and diced chicken


Directions

1. Add coconut oil to soup pot over medium heat, when melted add diced sweet potatoes.  Stir often so potatoes don't turn brown, add more oil if you have to.
2. When sweet potatoes have softened, add green peppers, onion and garlic.  Stir frequently, so garlic doesn't burn and until onion is translucent - about 5 minutes.
3. Add in spices and stir to coat all the veggies.
4. Add in tomatoes and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.  Taste it at this point and see if you need to add in more salt.
5. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend soup.  I like my soup with small chunks of veggies, so I pulse half of it and puree half the soup.  Be super careful when putting hot soup into a blender, it may explode on you and burn your hand if you're in a hurry and fill your blender too full.  Ouch!
6. Add soup back to soup pot and heat on low until ready to serve.
7. Top each bowl with cooked chicken.


Notes:

* I'm not sure why I called this chicken tortilla soup, since there's really no tortillas in it but I guess the recipe I modeled it after had tortilla strips as a topping.

* If you want you can top with sour cream, shredded cheese and tortilla strips.  Of course, this depends on dietary restrictions you may have.  Since I'm eating paleo-ish, I just top it with the chicken, but I serve my husband's with shredded cheese and the chicken.

* I sometimes eat this without chicken, it is super flavorful and doesn't require the chicken to be filling.  In fact, you could make this with veggie broth for a vegetarian soup.

* I often make this with a can of rotel tomatoes, which already has the jalepano in it.  So if you use rotel, skip the jalepano.

* This soup freezes really well.  I freeze it in 2 cup servings, for an easy lunch when I'm busy.