Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 2 pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken (breasts Or Thighs Or A Combination)
• 1/2 teaspoons Salt, Adjust To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoons Pepper (adjust To Taste)
• 1/4 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Medium Sweet Onion, Chopped
• 2 whole Bell Pepper (or 5 Sweet Peppers), Stem And Seeds Removed Then Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/2 teaspoons Ancho Chili Powder
• 1/2 teaspoons Chipotle Chili Powder
• 31 ounces, weight Canned Black Beans, Drained
• 16 ounces, weight Frozen Corn
• 14 ounces, weight Can Diced Tomatoes
• 10 ounces, weight Can Diced Tomatoes With Green Chiles
• 12 cups Chicken Stock (I Used 4 Cups From The Roasted Chicken And 8 Cups Store Bought)
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
• 1 whole Lime, Juice And Zest
• 1/2 cups Canola Oil For Frying (or Enough To Fill Pan With 1/2 ")
• 3 whole Flour Tortillas, Cut Into Thin Strips
• 1 whole Avocado, Peeled, Pitted And Sliced (optional For Serving)
• 8 Tablespoons Sour Cream, Optional, For Serving
• 1/2 cups Shredded Cheese (optional For Serving)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the chicken in a roasting pan, season with salt and pepper, fill pan with water to approximately halfway up the chicken, roast at 350 F for 2 hours or until the chicken is done. When done remove pan from the oven and set the chicken onto a plate to drain. Keep the stock in the pan. When chicken cools, use two forks to shred chicken. Set the chicken and the stock aside.
3. Heat olive oil on a large pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, and peppers and cook until tender (about 7 minutes). Next add the dried spices to the pan and stir. Stir in the black beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken, and 12 cups of stock (use the reserved stock from cooking the chicken, then use store bought to round off the 12 cups). Then cover the pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add the cilantro, lime juice, and lime zest. Simmer the soup for about 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. While the soup simmers put 1 inch of canola oil in a pan. When oil is hot fry tortilla strips in batches until they're crisp. When done remove them to a plate (if you don't want to fry the tortillas you can just serve the soup with regular non-fried tortillas, but I like the crunch from the fried tortillas).
5. Serve the soup, garnishing with tortilla strips, avocado, sour cream, and shredded cheese as desired.

chicken, salt, pepper, ubc, garlic, sweet onion, bell pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder, black beans, tomatoes, tomatoes, chicken, fresh cilantro, canola oil, flour tortillas, avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese

Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/soups/chicken-tortilla-soup-29/ (may not work)