This soup has a lot of relatives.  And for the most part you can’t go wrong with any of them.  This soup is filled with flavor and festive colors.  You can make it as mild or as spicy as you like.  The other night I made one batch to take to a church function and the other one I made for my family.  The one I made to leave at home was made with a pretty good kick, because the folks around my house are kind of a spicy group.    This is an easy soup to throw together and it always gets great reviews.  If you are feeling industrious, prepare your beans from scratch and do the same with your salsa.  If you need to make dinner in a hurry, grab your can opener and save yourself some time.  No one will really know the difference.  Let’s make soup!

Creamy Tortilla Soup Salsa Style

 

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This is such a versatile and colorful soup filled with rich textures and flavors. Make it as spicy as you want depending on the style of salsa that you use. Around here I like to make it with Pace Picante Sauce--hot.

Author: Sweet Suppertime

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic ( 1 large clove)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups water
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 quart half and half or cream
• 1 small jar of salsa or 2 cups ( mild if you like things mellow, hot if you are ready for a little spice)
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 2 15 oz cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1½ cups frozen corn
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• *optional: 1 can cream of chicken soup to create a thicker soup
• Garnish as desired with sour cream, tortilla strips, cilantro,cheese and/or avocado.

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add garlic and continue on medium heat for 1 more minute.
4. Sprinkle flour over the sauteed garlic and onions, reduce heat to low and stir for 1 minute longer.
5. Add water and bouillon cubes. (Of course you can use broth if you want to open more cans)
6. Return heat to medium and bring mixture to a simmer.
7. Add beans, corn, salsa, chicken and all spices, once again bringing the soup to a slow simmer.
8. Continue to simmer for 15 minutes, or toss it in a crock pot and leave it on low for a few hours.
9. Just before serving add 1 can of cream of chicken soup (optional).
10. Whisk until incorporated.
11. Add half and half (or cream) and bring back up to a slow simmer.
12. Remove from heat and serve.
13. Garnish as desired.

Notes

Adding a can of cream of chicken soup near the end of the cooking time will thicken this soup up nicely.

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I married a football/baseball player.  Soccer never entered the realm of his imagination…until he had a business trip to Seattle and we couldn’t reach him and there were tryouts and phone calls from a coach and one thing leads to another and pretty soon you are picking  your husband up from the airport and telling him that he is going to raise a soccer player.  4 soccer players.  (yes I know that was a run on sentence)
It’s a great story, but for those who are just looking for a Wild Rice and Chicken Soup recipe, it’s best to stick to the story at hand.
Jake is my second son and first soccer player. He went to  Minnesota one summer to play soccer and we followed.  He flew…we drove with the other 5 children for two days straight because that is how much we love watching Jake play soccer…or football….or baseball or anything.  Jake stayed with his team and we stayed in a brand new, very empty, hotel somewhere near  a town called Elk River.  There is a little cafe there called Olde Main Eatery and they were the masters of feeding our small crowd the most delicious home cooked meals you could ever imagine!  Look them up–they have 5 stars.  The point is that they served this creamy wild rice soup that literally warmed the soul and made old Campbell ‘s soup commercials look lackluster.  If I had a dime for every time my kid’s have said, “remember that wild rice soup in Minnesota?”… well let’s just say I would have quite a few dimes.
At the risk of ruining their fond recollections of the Olde Main Eatery, I set about to at least put a wild rice soup together that would help them remember the fun we had.  My family loved it and since I believe that every kitchen should have an inexhaustible repertoire of great and varied soup recipes, I thought I would post this baby!

Here’s the short list of ingredients you should gather.  I got my wild rice from Costco and I’m sure you don’t need HEAVY whipping cream but since that’s what Costco sells in the quantity I use then heavy cream it is. After this soup is refrigerated you will need to thin it and for that I used milk.  You know how rice absorbs all the moisture:)

Wild Rice and Chicken Soup by Sweet Suppertime

Prepare:
one cup uncooked wild rice according to package directions and reserve

Saute:
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sliced green onions or one medium onion
3 stalks chopped celery
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add:
32 ounces chicken broth/stock (reserve 1 cup for thickening)
4 chicken bouillon cubes *optional
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cooked chicken breast cubed

Simmer for 15 minutes.  In the last 2 minutes add remaining 1 cup of broth (reserved) mixed with 2 tablespoons flour until all lumps are gone.  I always pour this through a strainer to avoid lumping.

Add:
1 1/2 to 2 cups cooks wild rice
2 cups cream

bring back to a low boil and serve immediately.

Garnish and Serve:
Top with slivered almonds, fresh parsley and sliced green onions.

Don’t add the rice too far ahead because it will absorb much of the liquid in the soup.  When reheating you will need to add milk or additional cream, but it is delicious the second day if for some wild reason you have leftovers!

Crisp fall evenings are reminding me that it’s time to break out the soup, stew and chili recipes that mark the dwindling of summer barbecues. This chili is a favorite of my daughter Lacey who is not a fan of the heavier and heartier flavors of traditional chili. In contrast, this chili has lighter flavors that beg the question, “is this really qualified to be a chili?” For a girl who has been known to drink cream straight from the container, this recipe was destined for success. This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found in an old church cookbook.

 Creamy Chicken Chili

1 large onion chopped
2 TB olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
2 15oz cans Great Northern beans (drain and rinse)
2  large cans chicken broth(or equivalent in water and bouillon)
2   4oz cans diced green chilies
1/2  tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2  tsp coriander
1/2  tsp ground black pepper
1/4  tsp cayenne pepper
4  chicken breasts cooked and shredded

Add just before serving:
1 cup sour cream
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime ( or if you love lime use the whole thing)

In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil until it becomes transparent. Add the chicken and garlic powder, oregano, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and let this simmer for just a minute or two on low heat. This allows the chicken to pick up all kinds of flavor. Now just open up those cans and toss it all in together reserving the sour cream, whipping cream, lime juice and cilantro until just before serving. Simmer on low for 30 minutes or all day in your slow cooker.
Just before serving (by this I mean maybe 15 minutes or so before) add the sour cream, whipping cream and lime juice and stir to incorporate. I like to lay a slice of pepper jack cheese on the top as I take it to the table and sprinkle the cilantro over it. You can add tortilla chips, more sour cream or shredded cheese if you like. My family has never been opposed to a slice of avocado as a garnish either 🙂