Chicken Tortilla Soup

Place a stockpot over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the chopped onions, red bell pepper, garlic, jalapenos, pasilla peppers and big tbls of cumin and oregano; cook, stirring for 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked down and tender and the spices are fragrant. Add the chicken breast, brown it for a min on each side and then pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper, throw in the dried red chile de arbols and bring to a boil, then turn down to low, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, turn the oven on to broil and put the 2 ears of corn in the oven. Broil until corn is almost burning on all sides, flipping it a few times. Let them cool and then cut off the cob and into the soup. OPTIONAL---I don’t always do the strips but its a nice little crunch...Heat 1-inch of canola oil or olive oil in a skillet over medium-high flame. When the oil looks hot, add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until they are crisp on all sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and sprinkle with salt and cumin while they are still hot. Or instead of frying in a pan you can oven bake. Set the oven to 400, drizzle olive oil over the top of the strips and bake for 5 minutes.

After soup has cooked 30- 40 min quickly test a piece of the chicken to make sure it’s done. Then pull the chicken pieces out and shred with fork on a cutting board. Add chicken back into the soup. Ladle the hot soup into 4 soup bowls and top with the diced avocado, tomatoes, queso fresco and fried tortilla strips. Garnish with cilantro.