Chicken, Kale & Hatch Green Chile Tortilla Soup Recipe

This recipe is inspired by HATCH GREEN CHILES!!! The late summer, early fall is a perfect time to start experimenting with these peppers. I found a great site on Pinterest (click here) that had a plethora of recipe ideas to use the hatch green chiles and VOILA! There was exactly what I was craving: a kick ass tortilla soup. However, I modified the recipe to use what I had in the kitchen. Here is what I did:

1 Rotisserie Chicken - shredded

1/2 c. Hatch Green Chiles - roasted, seeded, diced

6 Roma Tomatoes

1/2 Red Onion - small dice

1 Bunch of Cilantro - chopped

2 Limes

Corn Tortillas

1/2 container of Baby Kale

1 - 32 oz. container of Chicken Stock (I actually had some leftover juice from a pork roast in my freezer that I used instead)

1/2 tsp. Cumin

1 Avocado

1. Heat the broiler on high. Cut tomatoes in half and lay face down on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Cook tomatoes in broiler until skins start to get slightly burnt.

2. In a big pot or dutch oven, add olive oil and sweat the onions, adding garlic and cumin.

3. Add the tomatoes and juice - then slowly add the stock. Bring to a boil then let simmer for 15-20 minutes. I let mine cook for about an hour on simmer to let the flavors marinade. Do what works best for your schedule - either way, the soup will be great! Then, add to blender and pulse for a second to break up big chunks of tomatoes. Pour back into pot.

4. Add chicken, kale and chiles - stir, cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Again, I let my soup cook on simmer for about 2 hours to let flavors merge. **Salt to taste.

5. Slice corn tortillas and place in oven to get crispy. Sprinkle with salt.

6. Serve with warm bread for dipping, sliced avocado, squeezed lime, chopped cilantro and if you desire, add sour cream.

Enjoy!! Namaste!!

Kim