Chicken Tortilla Soup in the Slow Cooker

Monday's are my hardest cooking days.  My daughter has ballet until 5:30 so I try to cook ahead so that by the time we get home there is just reheating or last minute preparations.  Today was no exception and after a very sunny weekend we are covered with a chilly, gloomy marine layer.  My son is home from school with a cold and I am a bit rough around the edges myself.  In other words, the perfect day for soup.

I've tried a variety of Chicken Tortilla soup recipes but none in the slow cooker. The slow cooker did the work for me and this is hands down the tastiest Chicken Tortilla soup I have ever made.  Everyone in my family LOVED it and it could not have been easier.  I literally threw all the ingredients in and just left it alone.  This recipe is taking it's place in our top ten.  It is that good!

Chicken Tortilla Soup in the slow cooker

1 lb shredded, cooked chicken (I boiled chicken breasts in water and let them cool before shredding)

15 oz. peeled tomatoes, mashed (I prefer to use tomatoes from boxes like this to avoid the BPA found in cans.)

16 oz. enchilada sauce (I use sauce from a jar, not a can)

4 oz. chopped green chili peppers (these are from a can, if you know of an alternative to canned, let me know!)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups water
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon each cumin, chili powder, salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 bay leaf (make sure to remove when soup is done)

12 ounces packaged frozen corn

1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro + more for garnish

7 corn tortillas to make baked tortilla chips for garnish

sliced avocado for garnish

light sour cream for garnish
juice from a fresh lime

Put all ingredients (chicken through to cilantro) in slow cooker and cook covered for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.

When the soup is nearly done prepare the tortillas by lightly spraying with vegetable or olive oil spray (I prefer olive oil.)  Cut into thin strips and spread on lightly sprayed cooked sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees until crisp, about 15 minutes.

Serve soup garnished with tortilla strips, sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.  Add a squeeze of lime juice.

My sweet little girl wants to be just like her mommy. She styled and photographed her own bowl and asked me to put it on her blog. So cute!!

Sharing this recipe:

Started a new painting today and love the way paint contrasts with my nails.  Stay tuned...

Sausage & Pasta Soup

When it's cold and windy and rainy I always crave soup. Lucky for me I was able to adapt a very old recipe with the ingredients I had on hand so I didn't even need to go shopping.

Served with gluten free crackers from Mary's Gone Crackers (Caraway)

Ingredients:
-1 package (about 1lb) of sausage of your choice.  Use turkey sausage to save calories, I used sweet  Italian that I had in the fridge.
-2 boxes of low sodium chicken broth - 64 oz total (use boxes, not cans that can be lined with BPA!)
-1 cup potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces, I used red
-1 can low sodium or no salt added pinto or cannellini beans (I used pinto,) drained & rinsed***
-1/2 yellow onion, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 teaspoon oregano (I used fresh from my garden)
-1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 6 oz gluten free pasta

*** Thanks to Kristine for pointing out that I forgot to list the beans in my original post!  And two notes on canned beans.  First, if you do not use low/no salt beans rinse the beans very, very well to help remove as much of the sodium as possible.  Second, I buy Eden Organics canned beans because the lining on their cans is BPA free.  A great place to buy them is online at Vitacost, if you don't already shop at Vitacost I highly recommend it...you can even email me for a link and I can get a discount on my next purchase.  :)

My sous chef peels

Directions:
Remove sausage meat from casings and roll into one inch balls (see below).  Brown in a splash of olive oil, being careful while turning them that they don't break up.  Sausage does not need to be cooked through at this point, just browned.  If you are using very fatty sausage I would suggest cooking well to help remove as much fat as possible.  When they are ready, set aside and drain fat, leaving just a bit to cook the onions & garlic.  Add the onions and garlic and cook until slightly browned.  Add oregano, thyme, broth and potato.  Simmer covered until potato begins to soften, about 15 minutes.  If sausages were not cooked through add them now and continue to cook until sausages and potatoes are done.  If you did cook the sausage through just add them for the last 5-10 minutes.  Add the beans in the last few minutes, also.

If working with any fatty meats I prefer to cook my soup early so it can cool and I can skim the fat.  If you cook a whole day ahead, the fat solidifies in the fridge overnight and can easily be discarded.  In this case, I let the soup cool for an hour or so and used one of those fat skimming cups with a spout (no idea what they are officially called!)

Now about the pasta - you can cook it in the soup for the last 8-10 minutes if you like.  The problem for me is that if you have leftovers, the pasta will be mush the next day.  I like to make the pasta in a separate pot and add to the soup when it's in the bowl just before serving.  I used De Boles Gluten Free Elbow shaped pasta.  Of the gluten free pastas I have tried I really prefer those made with corn.

Gluten Free Diary

Oh, please don't look at me like that.  I have not jumped on the gluten free bandwagon for the sake of weight loss or being trendy or lowering my carb intake.  With a child who is allergic to milk I have enough dietary restrictions in my life and was not looking for another...but...I have known for some time that I don't always feel quite "right."  

Since my children were born I have had the usual upswing in colds from germs the little monsters bring home but these days I can't get through one week without feeling cold symptoms of one sort or another.  For years I have had unexplained gastro-intestinal issues that can result in cramps bad enough to send me into a fetal position and require me to carry gas-relief pills with me everywhere I go. Unexplained nausea, skin rashes, chronic tendinitis and nagging headaches can all be symptoms of other issues but eventually I started to get suspicious.  I already eat (mostly) healthy, I get plenty of sleep (usually,) and work out (almost) daily.  I should be the picture of health.  I figured there was nothing to lose by going gluten free.

Going gluten free has never been easier.  There are many products out there that flaunt their gluten free status and there are just as many helpful articles, blogs and websites with advise on gluten free living.  I have not made a doctor's appointment to make this official, by the way.  For now I am just monitoring my diet and waiting to see how I feel and it's been almost 2 weeks now and I can say I have had no nausea, much less gas and stomach pain and much clearer sinuses.  I confess I've fallen off the gluten free wagon twice.  One night I literally forgot I was going going gluten free and ate pizza with whole wheat crust.  Another night I threw caution to the wind and ate Chinese food (how much gluten can you get from the soy sauce used to make Kung Pao Chicken, for crying out loud?)  On both occasions I paid dearly the next day...my stomach issues were back with a vengeance but cleared up within a day or two of going back to avoiding gluten.  Definitely sticking to the gluten free diet for a while...which leads me to my first recipe which was adapted from a recipe on a box of Cream of Buckwheat which I picked up at a local specialty store as an alternative to Cream of Wheat.

Old World Cauliflower Soup

1/2 cups Cream of Buckwheat

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups diced cauliflower

1/2 cups chopped onion

1 cup milk (I used non-fat)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used low-fat)

1 Tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon each nutmeg and pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine first 4 ingredients in medium saucepan and bring to boil.  Simmer uncovered, stirring frequently.  You'll need to scrape the bottom if the buckwheat is sticking and may need to add water if the mixture gets too thick.  Continue to simmer until cauliflower is soft, 15-20 minutes.  Then add remaining ingredients and heat until cheese and butter are melted but do not boil again. 

The original recipe calls for chopped parsley as garnish but the gophers ate my parsley plants long ago.  I garnished with a little dollop of sour cream, a bit more cheddar cheese and some fresh oregano.  (The oregano makes the picture look nice, but I don't recommend it for eating.)

This gluten free soup is quite low in calories if you use non/low-fat dairy ingredients and very filling.  I'll be freezing the leftovers in small batches to warm up for lunches.  It would be perfect with a nice slice of fresh bread.  Sigh.

PS.  I will not be freezing the leftovers of this soup...in fact, it doesn't keep well.  After a day or two in the fridge it had congealed into a unappetizing white mass.  I added water and warmed it up to eat for lunch today (I HATE to waste food,) but it wasn't very good and I threw the rest away.  So make this soup when you plan to eat it all while it's fresh and yummy.  Next time I make it I will make sure there is a large enough crowd to finish it all off.