Great Northern Tavern Tortilla Soup

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients
Half of a rotisserie chicken, about ¾ pound (available at most supermarkets)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet yellow onion, large dice
2 large cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 medium to large ancho chile (roasted, dried and packaged; in Mexican food sections)
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 to 6 ounces fried corn tortilla strips
1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted, diced tomatoes
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup, loosely packed, chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 large lime
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Heat the oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Wash and dry ancho chile pepper, slice lengthwise and seed.

• Sauté the chile for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly; remove chile and allow it to cool.

• Meanwhile, to the same hot oil, add diced onion and cook until it begins to caramelize. Add the garlic and sauté another 5 minutes.

• Cut cooled ancho chile into strips and place in a blender with 1 cup of water. Puree until smooth.

• Add the pureed chile mixture to the onion and garlic. Add the chile powder, cumin and cayenne and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the tortilla strips and add the tomatoes with their juice.

• Add the chicken stock and bring mixture to a simmer, turn down heat and allow to gently simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

• Meanwhile, cut up the rotisserie chicken into bite-size pieces, removing skin if desired. Set aside.

• To simmered soup, add the chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt and black pepper and puree the mixture with a hand blender until smooth.

• Add the cut-up chicken, taste to adjust seasoning, then bring soup just to a boil. Remove soup from heat and stir.

• Garnish top of each serving with a few tortilla strips from the bag.

Nutritional information per serving: 200 cal., 8 g fat (1 g sat.), 31 mg chol., 19 g carb., 1474 mg sodium, 2 g fiber, 15 g pro.Recipe, Please ($16, Johnson Books), a compilation of 166 reader requests from this column, is now available. To order, call 303-892-2332 or visit www.Rocky Mountain News.com/recipeplease. Also available at bookstores and gourmet kitchen stores.