Cooking & Conversation: Tortilla Soup-Cooking with So-Yeoun

Yesterday, So-Yeoun and her two sons came over to make a spicy Mexican soup.

It was one of the hottest days we have had, especially for June, with temperatures of 100 degrees.

This soup is good in the winter, and surprisingly, very satisfying in the heat of the summer. With chicken, chilies, tomatoes, fresh lime, cilantro, and garlic, this soup hits the spot anytime.

We made this soup when we first started cooking together last winter.

The flavors are good anytime of year, and So-Yeoun made the comment that she

could eat this everyday. It is definitely a hit anytime.

Ingredients:

1- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
49.5 oz. can chicken broth
1- 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
1 Onion chopped
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno
1/2 to 1 New Mexico Hatch Red chile (or any red or hot peppers you chose)
1/2 Fresh lime, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 package dry taco seasoning mix

So-Yeoun and Daniel.
Ready to cook.

The following photos will give a step-by-step

narrative of how to make this soup.

If you have never cooked before, you can follow these

photos and come up with a very successful soup.

Recipes like soup can be adjusted to individual tastes and

flavors. You can also put whatever ingredients you have on hand.

I had leftover roasted chicken and Spanish rice that I added to my tortilla soup.

It gave a good flavor with the additional spices, and had a very good texture.

I also added some left-over tomato juice I had in the refrigerator.

It blended well with the chicken stock that the recipe calls for.

Enjoy cooking, and if you can cook with a friend,

the conversation will be long remembered after the soup is gone.

Assemble ingredients.

Add water to bottom of pan when cooking
chicken breast to prevent sticking and drying out.

Drizzle olive oil on top of chicken.

Add salt.

Season with pepper.

Bake at 350 degree preheated oven
for 35-40 minutes.

Learning how to bake chicken is a must-know for any cook.

Chicken is versatile and can be used in many dishes.

Chomping on a skinless, boneless chicken breast gives you 23 muscle-building grams of protein for the bargain price of a single gram of saturated fat and 110 calories.

Mom is getting ready to cook Daniel's supper.

Assemble onion, garlic, jalapeno, and red chile.

Get ready to chop the vegetables.

Chop
Definition: To cut foods into squares, usually about 1/2" in diameter. The squares do not have to be perfectly equal, but should approximate the same size in order to cook evenly.

Chop 1 onion.

Add chopped onion to soup pan.

Seed and dice 1 jalapeno pepper.

The insides of a jalapeño pepper contain a chemical called capsaicin, which can cause burning in the mouth or on the fingers. Wear gloves when chopping jalapenos. We did not use gloves and had a burning on our skin from the oils in the jalapeno. We used a cream from our first aid kit that contained aloe vera, and the burning went away. You can go on line to learn more about remedies from your kitchen to relieve the burning from the oils.

Aloe gel, made from the central part of the aloe leaf, is a common household remedy for minor cuts and burns. It is a good plant to grow in your kitchen windowsill to rub on your skin and use for minor burns.

Today, I was reminded that I need to get an aloe vera plant for my kitchen.