The Secret Recipe Club--Vickie's Tortilla Soup

Amber and I could easily be friends.    We could be friends because, well, I love her blog. And her enthusiasm-- for cooking, for her blog, for her family and for her home.

Amber is the blogger from Bluebonnets & Brownies, the blog I was assigned for the secret recipe club.    I love the secret recipe club, because it introduces me to blogs I haven't seen before. It's such a great way to be introduced to new blogs and bloggers.  Some are extra special like this one.

I LOVE food with a Mexican flair--a Tex-Mex flavor--as well, as the occasional chocolate treat. Bluebonnets & Brownies--A Perfect Fit!!


Although, there were many great recipes to choose from, I decided on this Tortilla Soup .    I love Tortilla Soup.    I have made a good Tortilla Soup in my time, but I'm kind of always on the lookout for a better one now.     (It's all because of Heather from Girlichef and her Tortilla Soup round-up).   My favorite has lots of cheese and cream and some other really unhealthy ingredients in it, (it's sooo good!)   so when I read this  recipe, I thought,  "well it sounds really good, but  where is the cream?"

We Loved It!!!
It's like  apples and oranges. They are two completely different soups.   No one really  need compare.
It  felt like a fall day here in Winnemucca (in fact, it rained a bit)  and this soup smelled so good simmering in the crock pot all day.  It was just perfect.  The weather, the soup, the football on TV.
The soup was so good....it had a lot of flavor and the veggies simmered in the broth were just perfect.  It was a great soup to bring in the fall for me.
I love to chop vegetables for some reason and this soup was chalk full of them...carrots, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes.  It's soothing to me to chop.  
Our taste buds were very satisfied and we felt like this was a soup that was actually good for us!

I would make this soup again, even if I didn't have tortilla strips on top. It was just a really good soup. I'm not sure why it's called Vickie's Tortilla soup--maybe you should read the blog to find out. What a great idea. That way you can see what other great recipes Amber has.

In the Secret Recipe club, we are assigned a blog and we choose any recipe from that blog to make and post about. We keep our assigned blogger a secret until posting day. It's a lot of fun getting to know another blogger by actually 'stalker' (or visiting) their blog.
It's such a fun blog hop to take part in.   I can't wait to go visit all the other Secret Recipe bloggers!

Vickie’s Tortilla Soup

Directions
1 onion, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
2 regular carrots, peeled and diced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 zucchini, diced
6 cups of chicken broth
1-1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 bunch of cilantro


Directions
I started by chopping all the vegetables except the cilantro and tossing them into the crock pot. Then I added the chicken broth and spices, and allowed this to cook on low for about 2 hours. Then I added the raw chicken pieces (I used tenderloins) directly to the crock pot, and put it on high.


About 4 hours later, I removed the chicken pieces from the soup, and pulled them using two forks. This makes for very tender chicken throughout the soup, and guaranteed chicken in pretty much every bite. I added the chicken back to the soup, and just let it cook for another 3 hours on low.


The soup gets its name from what goes on top of it at the very end.


Preheat your oven to 350F. Take 1 corn tortilla per person eating, and cut the tortilla into strips. Place the strips on a baking tray, and spray them with cooking spray. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake the strips for about 8-10 minutes until crisp.


When you ladle up the soup, sprinkle it with some sharp cheddar cheese and the tortilla strips, and garnish
with some  cilantro.