September Weather

The September weather here in the Okanagan area of BC has been nothing short of phenomenal. The weather often turns at the end of August and leaves me with a boatload of green tomatoes. This year, however, it is warm and every time I go out to the garden I come back with buckets full of ripened tomatoes and peppers. I made a huge batch of salsa and a friend suggested I make tortilla soup. I didn't have/want to use all of the ingredients suggested so I winged it and IT WAS AMAZING. My husband and I couldn't stop exclaiming about how good it was.

Most of the ingredients were either from our garden or the market, which I think made it SO GOOD, but I can't see it tasting too horrible when we're stuck with winter vegetables. Trust me on this.

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 green peppers
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans corn
1/2 cup white wine or 1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons cumin
2 cans chicken broth
4 cups fresh tomatoes (or two cans diced tomatoes)

DIRECTIONS:

Sauté onion, garlic, jalapeno and green pepper with olive oil in a large pot until soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the large pot and bring to a boil.

After about 20 minutes, remove the chicken breasts and shred, using two forks.

Return shredded chicken to the pot and simmer an additional 45 minutes to an hour.

Serve, topped with a dollop of sour cream and/or shredded cheese.