Chicken Tortilla-less Soup

Preheat your oven to 375F. Place your chicken breasts in a large baking pan, and pour one tablespoon of oil over all, coating well. Sprinkle your fajita seasoning over the chicken, coating well, and place in the oven. Cook for about 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken pieces) until cooked through and liquid from chicken runs clear. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken. Using two forks, shred the chicken (while this is not so easy to do while the chicken is hot, I find I get a better shred if I do so while the chicken is still hot). Alternately, you can just chop the chicken into small pieces. Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven over medium heat, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and when hot, add in the onions. Cook until onions are translucent, about 4-6 minutes. Add in the garlic and peppers and saute for about 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Pour in the chicken stock and fire roasted tomatoes and bring to a medium boil.

OPTIONAL: If you want a slightly thickened soup, strain out some of the tomatoes, onions and peppers to a blender or Magic Bullet and puree. Pour back into the broth mixture. I did this with about 1/2 of the solids in the soup. Add the chicken, cilantro and lime juice to your bubbling cauldron of goodness. Taste to see what youre in need of (salt, pepper, more of a kick?) and adjust as need be. Serve nice and hot with some fresh cilantro and chopped up avocado to go on top. Maybe a wedge of lime if youre feeling pretty tart, or some extra diced up jalapenos or poblanos if you need more heat. Heck, get out the hot sauce if you really want some zing! Note: If you don’t have taco seasoning, make your own! Use a mix of ground cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and cayenne.