This past summer, my friend Sarah told me about a blog called Sodium Girl that specializes in low sodium/salt free recipes that still taste great. As someone who is health conscious and also trying to watch my sodium intake, I was immediately hooked on this site! Last month, SG posted a recipe for Salt Free Chicken Tortilla Soup which you can find here. I was waiting for the perfect lazy Sunday evening to test it out. This recipe was so easy to make after a long weekend and really hit the spot now that it’s chilly in NYC. My adapted recipe is listed below. I found all of the ingredients no problem at the neighborhood Whole Foods.
Low Sodium Chicken Tortilla Soup
(Adapted from Sodium Girl)
Serves 4
Ingredients
For Soup:
1 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 ripe hot house tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tbsp no-salt added tomato paste
3 cups water
1 Whole Foods rotisserie chicken (Note: SG’s recipe provides directions if you want to cook the chicken from scratch. I was too hungry/tired/lazy to go through this process.)
For Toppings:
4 green onions, sliced
1 small red onion, diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 lime, quartered
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (Note: For less heat, remove the seeds.)
Greek yogurt (0%) or sour cream (Note: Use Greek yogurt if you’re watching calories/fat intake. You seriously can’t taste the difference)
Tortilla chips, broken into pieces
Directions
1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic and corn, stir continuously for five minutes. Don’t stop stirring or you will burn the garlic. This happened to me on my first try and I had to start over…
2. Next add the four spices, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and water to the pot. Stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Then cover with a lid, lower heat and let simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
3. While the soup is simmering, shred the rotisserie chicken into pieces and set aside. Be sure to remove the skin.
4. Add the shredded chicken to the pot and increase heat to medium-high again. Bring to a rolling boil then lower heat a bit until it is just bubbling and continue to reduce without a lid for 15 to 20 minutes. (Note: Don’t skip this step! If you do, the soup will be watery and not as flavorful. Letting the soup bubble during this time helps intensify the flavor and thicken the broth.)
5. While the soup is cooking, prep your green onions, red onions, avocado, lime, jalapeno peppers, Greek yogurt/sour cream and tortilla chips that you will have as a garnish.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with garnishes as desired.
Here’s what the soup looked like before I added the garnishes:
This meal was met with raving reviews by D. He didn’t even notice the lack of salt which really speaks to the flavor of the soup! He likes extra spicy food and suggested using Habanero peppers next time and adding them to the pot during the reducing period to add extra spice to the dish. Since my mouth is still burning from the few jalapenos I added to my bowl, I probably won’t try that, but it’s a great suggestion for those who do like it extra hot!
Sweet Southern Comfort 