Soups & Stews #3

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup- Freezer Meal
I got this from a friend, just can't remember which one. Trying to give credit where it's due....this isn't mine, but I love it AND IT FREEZES!

Ingredients:
-4 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts, not frozen
-1 can diced tomatoes (not drained), 14.5 ounce
-1 can black beans (drained), 14.5 ounce
-1 small onion
-2 Tbsp minced garlic
-1 cup frozen corn (or a 14.5 ounce can of corn will work too) – we buy our corn in the summer when it is really inexpensive from a local farmer and freeze it.  So, I just cut the corn off the cob and use it which is why you see whole cobs here.  If I didn’t do that I would just buy frozen corn or use canned.
-1 jalapeno, finely diced (vary to taste – this will be a little bit spicy – about medium heat.  If you like mild food start with 1/2 jalapeno).  You can also use canned jalapenos if you don’t have fresh on hand.
-2 limes, juiced OR 2 Tbsp lime juice (fresh will taste better)
-1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (dried will work if that’s all you have on hand)
-3 14.5 ounce cans low-sodium chicken broth (Note: this will make a relatively thick soup – if you want your soup to go a little further you can add an extra can of broth and make it slightly thinner but a larger batch)
-salt/pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp sea salt)


Directions:
-Put all ingredients except for cilantro in a large pot.
-Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low and keep it at a slow boil for 25 minutes.  If you want the chicken to cook faster, you can cut the breasts in half or thirds and then you will only need to boil for 15-20 minutes.
-After 25 minutes, take the chicken out of your pot with a fork (one breast at a time) and put it on a separate plate.  Cut into the chicken to make sure it’s cooked all the way through, then using two forks (or a knife and a fork) shred your chicken.  The chicken should shred pretty easily.  Once shredded, put back in the pot and repeat with each chicken breast until all chicken is shredded.  It’s really easy and you should be able to shred all the chicken in 3-4 minutes.
-Add cilantro in pot, mix together, and serve!
-You can garnish with fresh cilantro, lime, avocado, or Greek yogurt mixed with lime juice (tastes like sour cream).  I have also baked a Food for Life brand tortilla, then cut it into strips to make a healthier version of tortilla strips to garnish with.
If making as a freezer meal:

No cooking is required when prepping this freezer meal. Use all the same ingredients as above.  When I make this into a freezer meal I put all the ingredients in a gallon-size freezer ziploc bag EXCEPT for the broth – you add that the day you cook your meal.  Make sure to push out any extra air in your ziploc bag before sealing to prevent freezer burn.  The day before I want to make this for dinner I will usually pull it out of the freezer and stick it in the fridge to defrost.  Put all ingredients (plus 3-4 cans of chicken broth) in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.  I usually write on the outside of the bag “add 3 cans broth” just as a reminder.  The crockpot works really well, especially if some of your ingredients are still a little frozen.  You don’t have to use a crockpot if you don’t want to, you can also cook it like I described above in a pot on the stove in about 30 minutes.