Tortilla Soup

This has been a delightful, spring-like break from winter this week. Temperatures have crept back up into the 70's and more often than not, the sun has been out. This isn't usually what I think of as soup weather, but the February issue of "Everyday Food" had a section on variations on Chicken Soup, so I had to try this one. It was even the cover recipe.
I wanted to make something very special for SexyLawyerMan for our 11th dating anniversary (January 5) but it was my first day back to school with kids, and he was busily studying for the Bar Exam, so I decided that an easy, experimental soup was the plan. Lucky for us, this one was really, really good. It also kept beautifully and it served us lunch for a few days. It's pretty spicy. By that I mean I'd classify it as a "Pace Picante Sauce Medium" level. Spicy for me, but I'm a Spice Pansy.

 Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup
In a large pot, heat 3 t. vegetable oil. Saute 2 cloves minced garlic until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add 1 T. tomato paste, 1 c. diced tomatoes with liquid, and 4 t. chili powder. Stir and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Add 10 c. chicken broth and bring to boil; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Place *shredded cooked chicken, avocado slices, cojita cheese, fresh cilantro, and sliced scallions in bowls. Pour the broth over other ingredients and top with baked tortilla strips and lime wedges.
***Substitutions: I used my own chicken broth. Some of it I already had frozen from previous recipes (my broth recipe is here) but the rest of it I made while I cooked the *3 chicken breast halves, fat removed, for this recipe. I just tossed some cilantro, onions, garlic, salt and pepper in while the chicken boiled. I strained it when I pulled the chicken out to shred and reserved the liquid to start the soup.
I used shredded Monterrey Jack cheese instead of cojita, store-bought tortilla strips instead of baking corn tortillas in the oven as the recipe suggests, and chives from my garden instead of scallions. I had some frozen cilantro (put chopped cilantro in an ice-cube tray, cover with water to fill compartments, and freeze; save in a Ziploc bag in freezer) that I tossed into the broth while it was cooking. It was fine for boiling, but I think that fresh cilantro would have been really good to garnish the soup at the end.
I stored the broth and the chicken and other toppings all separately in the fridge and combined to cook. Don't know if that matters.

Really, Mom?!

I used about 15 oz of Rotel tomatoes with chiles instead of plain diced tomatoes. Very good.
Nutrition Info: 330 cal, 14g fat, 32g protein, 19g carbs, 5g fiber. I'd say this one is "Kidney OK" but not "Friendly" (unless you are on a potassium restriction, in which it would be a NOooOOOoo Recipe). I ate less of the chicken to lower the protein and I didn't add much salt to the broth. (Store bought would have more sodium.) Cheese and tortilla strips can also be adjusted for salt. 

In other news, Berwyn got "fixed" this week. He's recovering nicely, but is not very excited about his Cone of Shame. We have proven to be over-protective parents now that we have both taken him to the vet (two days in a row) to have them check his stitches which we didn't feel were as even/normal/healed as they should be. The vet's office has been very nice and reassuring. However, cone it is. And I think I might be going to Hell after how much I laughed at his lack of success in navigating the house with the it. Poor Berwyn.