South West Jersey No-Tortilla Soup

This soup is heavenly.

My biggest complaint about tortilla soup: often the chicken on top is an after thought. It is either leftovers (I am not really a fan) or rotisserie chicken.

I have been been dreaming of sweet, juicy, pristine shreds of chicken on top of a spicy, veggie filled soup forever.

And finally, my South West Jersey No-Tortilla Soup. As the name implies, there are no tortillas (although feel free to add). And I used lots of local fresh ingredients--local white onion, a prehistorically gigantic zucchini (courtesy of Miranda), fresh Jersey corn, backyard garden cilantro, a Duffield's jalapeno, local honey from High Trail Honey and Jersey Fresh canned crushed tomatoes (a pantry staple around here).

The poached chicken is juicy and tender. Use leftovers (i can dig these leftovers) the next day for chicken salad or a wrap.

It all comes together in under an hour (I swear, and in my hour, I had a dog and a 5 year old, helping).

And not to get too Next Food Network Star, but MGD Lemonade is the perfect beer pairing for this unconventional summer soup.

For the soup:

• Honey and Lime Poached Chicken, shredded, broth reserved(recipe below)
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 white or yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 5 cups (approx) reserved stock from poached chicken
• Salt/pepper
• 2 ears of grilled corn, cut from cobs (if you don't have it grilled, just use cooked)
• Handful of cilantro
• 1 avocado sliced
• zest of one lime
• 1 green onion, sliced

1. Prepare poached chicken. Reserve stock.

2. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat.

3. Add veggies in layers. First carrots, for about 3 minutes, then onion, garlic and peppers. Last, add zucchini. Cook together until soft, about 7 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes, stock and salt/pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

5. Stir in corn.

6. Serve it up: top with avocado, shredded chicken, cilantro, green onion and a little sprinkle of lime zest.

Honey and Lime Poached Chicken

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 3 tsp. dried cilantro (or 3 T. fresh, chopped)
• Zest of one lime
• Juice of one lime
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 T. honey
• 1 lb thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts

1. Whisk all ingredients (except for the chicken breasts) together in a large pot.

2. Bring to a boil; add chicken.

3. Reduce heat, poach until chicken is cooked through 4 minutes.

4. Use tongs to remove chicken. Reserve poaching liquid. Shred chicken.