Chicken Tortilla Soup

Today just seemed like a soup day.  Perhaps because I found myself screaming at my children before 8 am.  Perhaps because my 2 year old ate the camera's memory card but not one of his Cheerios (so don't expect any pictures here - my phone is not smart).  Perhaps just because it's Monday.  So, here is a "use your imagination on how yummy this looks" recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed, trimmed, patted dry, and cut into 1 inch cubes.
A good mix of your seasonings of choice - I used cumin, paprika, coriander, black pepper, oregano, and chili    powder.  I tend to heavily season the chicken here and then just let it seep into the broth.  Saves a step!
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
1/2 a large or a whole medium red onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped.  Yep, still using these beauties!
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies.  You can mix this up with whatever tomatoes you like.
1 can beans, drained and rinsed.  I used kidney but I really prefer black.
4-6 cups chicken stock or broth, boxed or homemade
6-8 green onions, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1 lime
Cheese of choice (pepper jack for me...mmmmm)
Tortilla chips

Heat large dutch oven or soup pot to medium high heat with olive oil.  Season chicken liberally and brown in pot.  Remove chicken and add veggies, except garlic.  Stir and cook veggies until semi-browned (about 6-8 minutes), then add garlic.  Stir and cook a minute or two more.  Then add canned tomatoes, beans, liquid, bay leaf, and half of the green onions.  Bring to a boil, check seasonings, then turn to low and let simmer for 1 hour.

When soup is ready, ladle into a bowl.  Mix the remaining onions and fresh tomato with the juice of half a lime and sprinkle over the top of soup.  Add cheese, maybe a "dollop of Daisy" and crumbled tortilla chips.  Avocado would be super yummy too.  Or cilantro, if your husband doesn't have cilantro hang-ups, which mine does.  Or jalapeno if you really want to get wild.  Really, the possibilities are endless!  Yummy for the tummy and the heart.  Again, a picture would be fabulous but not today.  Sigh....