Ingredients

Scale

For the chicken:

1 teaspoon olive oil
2 – 4 chicken breasts (depending on how “meaty” you want your soup–I used 2), chopped into chunks

For the soup:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled & chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 carrot, peeled & chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup chopped sweet pepper (mini sweet pepper or bell pepper)
4 Tablespoons flour or tapioca flour (I used tapioca flour)
2 quarts chicken broth (use less broth if you want a thicker soup)
1 cup Hatch green chiles (frozen, thawed, with juices)
1 pint jar (or 15-oz can) of fire roasted tomatoes, with juices
1 bay leaf
1 8-oz. package Greek cream cheese (or Neufchatel), softened
1 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salt & pepper, to taste

For the confetti topping:

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 avocado, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
Fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

Heat a nonstick soup pot over medium heat, add 1 teaspoon oil, then the chicken. Stir and cook until the chicken is cooked. Remove from heat and set the chicken aside.
Add the rest of the oil, onion, garlic, celery and carrot to the soup pot. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the onion is very soft and translucent. Add the sweet pepper and saute a few minutes longer. Stir in the flour to coat the veggies, then add the broth, green chiles, tomatoes and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Put a couple cups of this hot broth in a blender (straining off some of the liquid to get more veggies than broth), add the cream cheese and cheddar and blend until smooth. Stir the cream cheese mixture back into the soup, add the chicken and cook for 5 – 10 minutes longer.
In a small bowl, mix together the onion, tomato, and avocado with the lime juice and some chopped cilantro leaves.
Garnish the hot soup with tortilla strips (or crushed tortilla chips), the confetti, a bit more shredded cheese and some more fresh cilantro leaves.

Notes

You can use canned green chile in place of frozen, but you may want to add some chopped jalapeno to give the soup a little heat. You can also use fresh Hatch green chile, but I would recommend roasting and peeling it first, like they do in New Mexico.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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