Mexican Comfort Food

My son-in-law, Jeremy,  arguably makes the best Chicken Tortilla Soup north of the border, so I’ve taken a few pages from his cookbook to create this hearty, flavorful dish. One of his secrets is the roasted corn. You can buy this at Trader Joe’s if you’re lucky enough to have one in your neighborhood; but you can also roast two ears of fresh corn on the grill and then cut the kernels off.

Tortilla Soup is one of my favorite “foodie movies”. It brilliantly displays the art of Mexican cuisine and how food can bring people together. One of the best scenes in the film is over a family dinner of  Tortilla Soup, where Paul Rodriguez, as the suitor of one daughter, nervously prates on about the “toppings” that are part of the dish, and how much he enjoys them. “I love toppings. Sometimes I go to restaurants and just order toppings”.

Whenever our family eats this dish together someone always makes a reference to this part of the movie, and Jeremy even manages a bit of a Mexican accent when he says it! So here’s my slow cooker version of a soup that comforts me and connects me to my Big Fat Mexican Family!

1 lb chicken breast, trimmed
½ bag of Trader Joe’s roasted sweet corn or 1 can sweet corn
15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
5 cups chicken stock
1 medium onion, chopped
3 jalapano peppers, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Shred chicken and return to slow cooker.

If possible, the day before you make the soup you can cut tortillas in strips and let them dry out on a baking sheet. An hour before serving place the baking sheet in a 250 degree oven and let them slowly roast. Keep an eye on them and when they are golden remove from oven.

TOPPINGS

Tortilla Strips
Shredded white cabbage
Avocado, cubed
Green onions, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Limes

Buen provecho, amigos! Enjoy!