Best Ever Tortilla Soup

Post Edit: Yesterday I wrote that my goal was to get 100 votes for my French's recipe by the end of the weekend. I underestimated you all. I had 100 votes by Thursday night, before the weekend ever began. I think I'll give you all a kiss. Move in close. Smooch! Thank you and keep voting-new goal: 200 by weekend's end.
I think I've finally found a dinner that could make the whole world happy. I mean it. This tortilla soup, adapted from the Mansion at Turtle Creek, is a dinner revelation. It takes ten minutes tops of active prep time. There's hardly any chopping at all, since you throw most of your ingredients into the blender. It's as healthful as you want to make it. It's ch-ch-ch-cheap, since soup is mostly, well water, actually. Those are all great reasons to make this soup, but I'm leaving out the best one. It's DEE-RI-SHUS, as my nephew Sammy used to say. DEE-RI-SHUS! I really do mean it. See for yourself if you don't end up fawning over tortilla soup. This is the way to do it:

Pile up your soup bowl with tortilla chips and cheese

Add some diced avocado, a lime wedge, and cilantro

Ladle in the soup with a dollop of sour cream and dig right in. Bet you're going to love it as much as I do.

Money Saving Tips:

This one's pretty inexpensive, but save extra money by buying canned tomatoes by the case when on sale. Even the cheap brands are going to work well here. Forget canned broth; use powdered chicken bouillion or homemade stock for the most bang for your buck. You can make your own tortilla strips with your corn tortillas if you are so inclined. And just you wait till Thanksgiving is over-then you can throw in some leftover turkey for even more savings.
Tortilla Soup

slightly adapted from The Mansion at Turtle Creek

Estimated Cost for six servings: $6.00
3 tablespoons olive oil

4-6 corn tortillas, diced

1 tablespoon of cumin
2 tablespoons of chili powder

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1 large onion

a large handful of cilantro leaves and tender stems

2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes

8 cups chicken broth or stock (or vegetable stock to make it vegetarian)

OPTIONAL ADD INS:

2 cups frozen corn

1 (14 ounce) can black, pinto, or kidney beans

leftover shredded chicken or turkey-keep that in mind in two weeks

In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add tortillas and saute until beginning to brown. Add cumin and chili powder and saute for one minute. Meanwhile, combine in the blender the garlic, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes. Puree until smooth. Add tomato mixture and chicken broth to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes and up to one hour. Add any optional add ins for last few minutes of simmering. Serve soup with tortilla chips, cheese, avocado, cilantro, sour cream and lime wedges.

And by the way.....

Have you voted today? My goal is to get 100 votes by the weekend for my Cheery Cherry Chicken for the French's Cook-Off.Voting is only a little bit of a pain, much less than a cavity or a trip to the DMV. You have to start an account but it's only one page and I'll bet you can do it in less than thirty seconds. It hurts a lot less than a paper cut. Remember to vote everyday until November 25th to send your old Prudy to NYC. I promise it's easier to vote daily than give birth even once. So get on over there and vote for lucky number seven!

Next Up:

I'm deciding between a pie crust tutorial and caramel corn. Any preferences?