Creation Sunday - Tortilla Soup

We're glad to be back after a long break!  Today Hillary is going to share a great recipe!!!

I haven't posted in a long time.  But, of course, I haven't stopped cooking or creating.  That leaves me with a lot of recipes and a lot of stuff to tell you about.  So, to kick off the first "creation sunday" in a very long time, I am going to share with you a new favorite soup recipe.  If you've followed this blog before, you're well aware that my favorite thing is "convenience gourmet" style recipes where I take something very simple and make it taste homemade.
My husband LOVES chicken tortilla soup, and, one day I wanted to make something special for him but didn't have a ton of time and really didn't want to go through the multiple steps that a typical tortilla soup involves... and hubby is kind of picky so the typical long list of vegetables in a tortilla soup would definitely not suit his taste.  So I had to do a lot of searching and sifting, but I finally found this excellent recipe from Plain Chicken which uses rotisserie chicken and primarily canned ingredients.
OF course, me being me, I modify it every time I make it. However, the modifications are fairly simple, so I'll just list them rather than re-writing the entire recipe:
-I use a small can of mexi-corn instead of a full cup of corn
-I sometimes add some vegetable broth in with the chicken broth. At most, I will substitute a cup of vegetable broth for a cup of chicken broth.  I like the extra flavor it adds, but it's not necessary.
-I use the low fat cream of chicken soup.
-I use a variety of spices depending on what I have in my cabinet.  Depending on the day, my soup can include any or all of the following: chili powder, cayenne powder, powdered garlic, dried cilantro, black pepper and "cajun seasoning". I just keep adding stuff and tasting until it seems right.
-I use half a can of mild rotel tomatoes instead of a whole can of regular rotel.  I usually make rotel dip with the other half of the can but the normal amount of cheese.
-I have found that Boar's head Chipotle gouda is a delightful garnish for this soup and adds a nice smoky, spicy flavor without being overwhelming.
-If you're a spicyholic, unlike me, you could try regular or even "hot" rotel and you could try the boar's head three pepper colby jack cheese.  I tried this cheese once, and while I'm sure it tasted lovely, I really couldn't tell because of the jet engine it ignited in my mouth.

This is a great recipe that takes maybe 30 minutes to make including picking the chicken apart and the extra time that I take to taste, re-season, taste, re-season, etc.

We hope you enjoyed Hillary's recipe and encourage you to check back for more updates soon!