Organic Chicken Tortilla Soup

 By Yummly.com

Ingredients

1 whole organic chicken

1 onion (unpeeled and cut in half)

1/2 tsp peppercorns

2 cloves garlic (peeled and left whole)

1 bay leaf

1 carrot (quartered)

1 celery (stalk, quartered)

1 sprig flat-leaf parsley

olive oil

6 roma tomatoes (diced)

1/2 red onion (diced)

11/2 red peppers (chopped roughly)

1 jalapeno chile (d, seeded and minced)

3 limes

1/2 bunch cilantro (minced)

salsa (Tomatillo, recipe, below)

2 tsps ground cumin

salt

pepper

tortilla chips

cheddar cheese (freshly grated)

lime (wedges)

chopped cilantro

red onion (diced)

1 lb tomatillos (washed and husked)

2 chiles de arbol (dried)

1 onion (small chopped)

2 cloves garlic

1/2 bunch cilantro

1. Prepare the broth: place the whole chicken, carrot, celery, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, and garlic in a large soup pot. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Bring the broth to a boil and then simmer for an hour, to an hour and a half, occasionally skimming off the foam.
2. Remove the chicken from the broth and strain the broth, tossing the veggies. Strain the broth again and set it aside.
3. Let the chicken cool, then shred the meat into a separate bowl or container and toss the carcass (or freeze it and use it to make chicken stock later).
4. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, tomatoes, peppers and chile. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
5. Pour in the broth and add the lime juice, cumin, cilantro, salt and pepper. Stir the mixture, bring it to a boil and then decrease the heat to medium-low.
6. Add the chicken and about 1/3 cup of tomatillo salsa. Give the soup a nice stir and simmer for about 20 – 30 minutes.
7. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, top with tortilla chips, cheese, cilantro, red onion and more salsa, to taste. Season with salt and pepper and stir in more lime juice, as desired.

Tomatillo Salsa
1 pound of washed and husked tomatillos
2 dried chiles de arbol
1 small chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch of cilantro
salt and pepper, to taste.
1. Put the tomatillos in a medium pot and cover them with water. Boil them for about 15 minutes. Drain and add them to a blender.
2. Next, toast the chiles in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until they’re slightly charred. Seed them and de-stem them, then add them to the blender.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender, along with 1/3 cup of water and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.