Chicken Enchilada Soup

A few months ago, I was recovering from surgery and my friend, Julie, brought us dinner. It was enchilada soup and it was pretty much one of the best things I had ever tasted. Up to this point, the easiest soup I could throw together, was taco soup. I have to admit, since she shared this recipe with me, I haven't made taco soup once. If you know how to open cans, you can make this soup. It is that easy, and besides being ready to eat in about 15 minutes, it is delicious down to the very last bite.

One of the things that makes this soup so special, is the crunchy strips on top. This is something that I added to the recipe, it is a little trick that I learned from my sister, who is an amazing cook. She is one of those people that can make recipes up as she goes along. Put in a little bit of this and a little bit of that...not me. I do much better following the recipe. Anyway, my sister showed me how to make crunchy tortilla strips. Take a stack of four or five corn tortillas and use your pizza cutter to cut thin strips (about 1/4 of an inch) then dump them into a hot frying pan coated with olive oil, cook until crunchy, drain on paper towels.

I don't like soggy tomatoes (stewed or bottled,) so I cut up a fresh tomato and add to my soup when I add the garnishes. I like to garnish this soup with a little dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, diced avocado, and of course lots of the delicious crunchy strips. Thank you to my good friend Julie, you have lightened my life in more ways then just this delicious soup!

Ingredients:
15 oz can white kidney beans (I use great northern beans)
15 oz can dark red kidney beans
15 oz can pinto beans
15 oz can of golden corn (I use frozen corn)
1 28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 10 oz can medium diced tomato and green chilies ( I don't add this)
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded (I use the large can of chicken breast from Costco, very easy)
1 can of chicken broth ( I use one tsp of better than bouillon paste dissolved in a cup of hot water)
1 can green chili enchilada sauce
1 jar of pureed bottle tomatoes (optional)

Directions:
Open and drain the cans, dump into a large pot and heat through. I usually add a little more chicken broth if the soup needs to be thinned out a little. While the soup is heating, fry the tortilla strips and get garnishes ready. Top soup with your favorite garnishes.

*recipe from Julie B.

Lettuce Wraps

I have only been eating lettuce wraps for the past few years. I am a fairly picky eater and sometimes don't give certain foods the attention they deserve. I first tried lettuce wraps at our families favorite Chinese restaurant, Joy Luck, and to my surprise, I loved them. I even thought about them for several days after. 

 This is my mom's recipe for lettuce wraps. It is only fitting to start off this blog with a recipe from her. I grew up in a family of 11 children, so I started cooking at a young age. My mom is an excellent cook and I thank her for teaching me. I am not sure when she found this recipe, I have searched deep into my memory and cannot remember her making them while I lived at home, that's a shame. I doubled the recipe and it fed five of us. These are delicious and pretty easy to make. We finished every last bit and wished there was more.

 I used three boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I cut them into small pieces before I cooked them (this was the most time consuming part of the whole recipe) the rest came together very quickly. I didn't add the oyster sauce that the recipe calls for, no reason why, except my mom never does, so I figured it was one less thing to buy. I cut the sugar in half for the filling. I like it a little less sweet. I am not a big celery fan, so I left that out. I also used iceberg lettuce instead of the others listed. It would be a really good idea to wash the lettuce first and lay out on paper towels to dry, so they are ready when the filling is.

Filling:
1 Tbl sesame oil
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 Tbl fresh ginger, finely diced
1 pound chicken breast meat
salt and pepper to taste
1 small can sliced water chestnuts, drained and diced
3 Tbl pine nuts (toasted - optional)
3 scallions, chopped (green onions)
2 Tbl sugar
½ cup Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbl soy sauce
½ cup oyster sauce (available at the ethnic food section of grocery store.)
1 Tbl cornstarch
2 Tbl water
Radicchio or Romaine lettuce leaves

Place the sesame oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the celery, ginger, and chicken and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan and cut into little squares and return to the pan. Add the water chestnuts, pine nuts, scallions, sugar, Hoisin Sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce and cook for one minute. Mix the cornstarch and water together and add this mixture to the sauté pan and cook for 3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Place a spoonful of the chicken mixture in the center of each lettuce leaf, drizzle with special sauce. Fold and eat!

Special Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Put all ingredients into bowl and mix thoroughly.

*recipe from Cheryl F.