Chicken Tomatillo Soup

Baby, it’s cold outside!! This chicken tomatillo soup is sure to warm you up! Many recipes of this nature call for blending the vegetables before adding the stock into the pot, but I prefer to dice the vegetables into small bits and leave this soup chunky. The fresh lime squeeze in your bowl just adds a freshness that reminds you its cold outside, but nice and toasty inside! See the end of the recipe for a vegetarian option!

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced thin
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound fresh, diced tomatillo (you can substitute canned tomatillos if necessary)
2 medium jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced, reserve 1 tbsp.
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or your favorite hot pepper sauce)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (you can substitute fresh parsley here if you don’t like cilantro)
1/4 cup sour cream (optional)
1 large fresh lime, cut into 6 slices
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
flour tortilla chips – your favorite kind

Put it all together:

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat.
2. Sprinkle the chicken slices with a bit of salt and pepper and add to the preheated pan.
3. Sauté chicken in the oil approximately, 3-5 minutes – it should be fully cooked and lightly browned.
4. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
5. Reduce the heat to medium and add in the onions and garlic to the saucepan.
6. Sauté the onions and garlic until golden.
7. Stir in the tomatillo, jalapeno peppers, cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
8. Reduce heat, cover the pan, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
9. Next, add the sliced chicken back into the pan. Heat for another 8 minutes or so, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
10. Ladle the soup into your favorite soup bowls, top with a squeeze of the lime wedge for each bowl.
11. Next, top the soup with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle a bit of the fresh diced jalapeno pepper on it.
12. Garnish each bowl with some fresh cilantro and a few tortilla chips.

Serves 6. J

NOTE: you can also make this with your favorite cut of pork too. Need a vegetarian version? Substitute vegetable stock, leave out the chicken! You can also add in some diced tomatoes too.