Amazing Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• cooked chicken (leftover roasted or rotisserie)
• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes & chilies
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 inches piece Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 8 corn tortillas
• oil
• sour cream (optional)

Directions

1. 1

   Put chicken, skin bones and all, into a pot with 2 quarts of lightly salted water, and bring to boil. Important: the skin and bones make the broth taste great. that's where the flavor is. this wont work using skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

2. 2

   Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is starting to loosen from the bones and broth looks. well. like broth. (about 20 minutes).

3. 3

   Carefully, remove chicken from broth making sure to get any little bones that may be on the bottom of the pot. Set chicken aside to let cool.

4. 4

   Add onion, Rotel, cumin, garlic, chili powder, and black pepper to the pot. Add 1/2 tsp crushed pepper for medium heat, less if you like it mild, or more if you like it spicy. I use 1 teaspoons.

5. 5

   Stir, and let simmer until chicken is cool enough to handle.

6. 6

   Tear off chicken meat and place back into pot discarding skin and bones.

7. 7

   Cut off about a 2 inch section from a log of Velveeta cheese, then cut into cubes.

8. 8

   Add cheese, and cilantro to soup and stir over low heat until cheese is melted into the soup. Let simmer stirring often.

9. 9

   Stack corn tortillas and slice into thin shreds with a sharp knife. Cook tortilla shreds in a small amount of hot oil until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

10. 10

    To serve, ladle soup into individual bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream (optional) and the tortilla strips.