Thai Chicken Soup

This is a really light and flavorful soup. I recommend making your own stock, but store-bought is fine, too. 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 lemongrass stalks, 1-2 hard outer layers discarded

2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced 

2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced 

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

2 quarts chicken stock

1 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained but reserving juice

2oz tamarind paste

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 Serrano chiles, thinly sliced

A little lime zest

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Jamie has a cold, so I wanted to make him a warm soup to make him feel better - and I also love soup and the weather is cold and rainy, so I was in the mood. He requested chicken tortilla soup - one of my favorites. It's not too tricky to make and it's so flavorful and also pretty healthy. This recipe serves 6-8, so we'll be eating it for lunch for a while too, but I don't mind. I definitely suggest making this soup this week to ward off the fall dampness creeping in.

Ingredients:
3 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
olive oil
1-2 tbsp canola oil
2 yellow onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 quarts chicken stock
1 28oz can whole tomatoes, crushed
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
2 minced jalapenos
4 gloves garlic, minced
4 corn tortillas, cut in strips
1 bunch cilantro, rinsed (half the bunch, including stems, minced, other have roughly chopped for topping)