Sopa Azteca Soup

YIELD: 10 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 quarts chicken broth
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken or boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 or 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 or 3 ribs celery, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 small carrot, shredded
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, including juice
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• At least 8 ounces Mexican Queso Quesadilla or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (these come canned)
• 5 ripe Haas avocados

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Heat the broth and the chicken in a large pot over low heat.
2.  Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, garlic, celery, pepper, carrot, and zucchini together until they’re limp.
3. Stir the oregano, basil and pepper into thevegetables and sautee for another minute and add them to the soup, along with the tomatoes and spinach.
4. Let the whole thing simmer for 1/2 to 1 hour, to let the flavors blend.
5.  When you’re ready to serve the Sopa Azteca, put at least 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cheese (more won’t hurt) in the bottom of each bowl, and anywhere from 1 to 3 chipotles, depending on how spicy you like your food. (If you don’t like spicy food at all, leave the chipotles out entirely.)
6. Ladle the hot soup over the cheese and peppers.
7.  Use a spoon to scoop chunks of 1/2 ripe avocado onto the top of each bowl of soup.

PER SERVING:

•  21 grams of carbohydrates and 6 grams of fiber, for a total of 15 grams of usable carbs and 25 grams of protein. 1/2 cup of shredded cheese adds only a gram or so of carbohydrates and 14 grams of protein. Each chipotle pepper adds no more than 1 gram or so of carbs, and 1/2 a Haas avocado has about 6 grams of carbohydrates and 2.5 grams of fiber, for a total of 3.5 grams of usable carbs per serving.