recipe of the week: chicken ranch tortilla soup (slow cooker recipe)f

as much as i love pinterest, there have been a few ideas that i have tried and been disappointed by.


one was the sausage egg breakfast casserole. ick.
another was the chicken ranch tacos. cooked in the crock pot. they SOUNDED right up my alley. and so i followed the instructions


put chicken (2 pounds--i used a pound of breasts and a pound of thighs) in crock pot

 add taco and ranch seasonings (of course, it called for the prepackaged stuff...no thanks from me, but you can do what you like)

 (i used two tablespoons of each)

 a cup of chicken stock

 and cook for awhile

 shred cooked chicken

...


and then i tasted it.
and it.was.bland.
(to me)


i could NOT get excited about this at all.  so i froze half of the mixture (the recipe for what i did with that will come later) and with the other half, i decided to try my hand at chicken tortilla soup.  only, since there was the ranch element in the chicken i decided to make it a chicken ranch tortilla soup.


so. here's the (much tastier) outcome. turning a pinterest fail into a recipe that my husband immediately said to "keep in the rotation" isn't a bad deal at all :-)
(i still haven't salvaged that breakfast casserole. some things are lost causes.)


chicken ranch tortilla soup

1/2 chicken cooked as above (or similarly), reserved in crockpot (the other half you can save for a second batch, another recipe, or just double the following ingredients)
theoretically, i cook the chicken overnight on low, then start the soup before i head out the door for work.
olive oil
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can black beans
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 pound shredded chicken (preferably cooked as above, or similarly)
2 cups corn (i used trader joe's fire-roasted)
1 1/2 tablespoons ranch seasoning (separated)
1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning (separated)
avocado (1 for every 2 adults eating)
cilantro
tortillas


in a saucepan on the stove, heat olive oil and saute the onion in the 1 tablespoon each of the ranch and taco seasonings for 5-10 minutes

 add the crushed tomatoes and chicken broth and simmer while you assemble the other ingredients in the crock pot.

 to the chicken in the crock pot, add the corn, beans and cilantro

 pour the tomato mixture over

 warm through. i cooked for probably 4 hours on low, but you can simply set your crock pot to "warm" if that's an available option.  about 10-20 minutes before serving, "wake" the spices by adding the additional 1/2 tablespoons of the ranch and taco seasonings.

 ladle into bowls and top with fresh avocado slices, cilantro and strips of tortillas (or tortilla chips if you prefer)

the caloric damage on this isn't too bad either.  the avocados add the most in terms of fat and calories, but since it's a good fat i don't get too worried.  here's the nutrition facts based on 6 servings and 1/2 avocado in each serving.

if you make it without avocado, here's your nutrition info.