Chicken Tortilla Soup My way

Last week we went out to lunch and I ordered the soup of the day - which turned out to be Chicken Tortilla. I'd never tried it before and the first spoonful had me grabbing for the ice water. But the more I ate, the more I liked it.

So, I tried to find a recipe. There were plenty of them, but none that had the ingredients I saw in that soup. That's when I decided to just wing it... and I'm really glad there's just enough left over for my lunch tomorrow.

Here's what went into the pot...

First I soaked about a cup full of pinto beans overnight. Then I cooked them until they were close to done. I set them aside until time to start the soup.

Into a crock pot went:

The mostly cooked beans
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can of water
about 1/2 t. cumin
about 1/4 t. cayenne pepper
a few splashes of hot sauce
about 1/2 t. garlic powder
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 leftover cooked chicken breast, cut into pieces about 3/4" squarish

After it had cooked for a while I tasted it and added a bit more of the cumin, cayenne, and garlic.

To serve, I topped it with finely shredded cheddar cheese and minced green onion.

Yum...

*All the recipes I saw called for cilantro - but since there was none on the shelf and it's 12 miles to the grocery store, I didn't use it. Maybe next time.