Chicken Tortilla Soup with Avocado Salsa

We first ate this soup when we were skiing at Beaver Creek several years ago.  It’s been hubby’s favourite ever since!  After tasting it again on our last holiday he asked me to make it for him.  This is my approximation of it.   

Instead of tortillas, I decided to lighten it by serving an avocado salsa with it.  There’s something about lime, avocado and coriander that always screams summer at me.  Probably because it takes me back to the ‘Delia Summer Collection Days’ of the early 90’s! 

For two of us, this was what I used : 

For the soup : 

1 tb olive oil

1 shallot

1 small clove of garlic

1 stick of celery

1 red chilli

1 bunch of coriander (stalks for the soup, leaves for the salsa)

1 green pepper

1 x 220g can of chopped tomatoes (1 cup)

1 x 220g can of red kidney beans (1 cup)

1 cup leftover cooked chicken

¼ tsp ground coriander

1 lime

¾ pint chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste 

For the salsa : 

½ small red chilli

The coriander leaves from above

The juice from ½ a lime

1 small avocado 

Finely chop the shallot, garlic, celery and coriander stalks and add to the pan containing 1tb of olive oil.  Add the ground coriander and sauté gently for 5 minutes. 

Rinse the kidney beans well and de-seed and chop the green pepper and red chilli. 

Add the tinned tomatoes, kidney beans, green pepper, red chilli, chicken stock and finally the cooked chicken (tear into bite sized chunks).  Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Simmer gently for half an hour. 

While the soup is simmering you can prepare the salsa.  Simply chop the coriander leaves and pop into a serving bowl.  De-seed and chop the small chilli (or half of a chilli depending on the size and how hot you like it to be) and add to the coriander leaves.  Peel and chop the avocado and add to the chilli and coriander leaves.  Finally, squeeze over the juice of half a lime. 

When the soup is cooked, to give it a delicious light zing squeeze in the juice of the lime and stir through the soup. 

Serve the soup with the salsa heaped in the middle for a lovely light contrast.