Tortilla Soup

Submitted by Mary Stanley

Here's the recipe- I can't believe i'm sharing it... :-)
(this is rough; do things to your taste and don't be afraid to experiment)

Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken, torn apart/shredded
quart of chicken stock
chopped celery, carrots, potatoes and onions
1 diced jalapeno, seeds removed (or not, depending on your brevity)
1 or 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
chili powder
s & p
16oz can of v8 (my secret ingredient)
lime juice
cilantro
sour cream
avocado, diced
corn tortillas


Place 1st 8 ingredients in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer until vegetables are soft, @30 minutes. Meanwhile, slice tortillas into strips. (Use a pizza cutter to make it easy.) If you want to be authentic, you'll need a frying pan with about an inch of oil in it. Heat the oil and fry your strips in batches, drying on paper towels. If you want to be healthy, place the strips on a baking tray and bake till crisp at 350f in the oven. Back to the soup, add lime juice and cilantro and simmer another 5 minutes. Serve over a handful of tortilla strips with a dollop of sour cream, avocado.