Chicken Tortilla-less Soup with Quinoa

No matter where you are in the continental U.S., chances are it’s freezing!  Nothing makes me want to cook–and eat–more than freezing temperatures.  I have been craving a delicious soup, so I decided to make one.  I updated one of my favorite soups that I posted on here five years ago: chicken tortilla soup.  I could not justify buying an entire bag of tortilla chips just so that I could use a few for this soup, and I wanted to use something that I already had on hand.  So, I decided to add the ever-popular superfood grain, quinoa.  I heaped a healthy serving of quinoa into my bowl before ladling the spicy and flavorful soup on top.  The quinoa makes this soup much more substantial, and the avocado and fresh lime balance the spicy chipotle chile.

I whipped this soup together after I came home from work and finished it in 30 minutes!  (And that included me cooking the quinoa and chicken simultaneously.)  I was starving, so I gobbled down a large bowl.  I took the leftovers to work, and there was a distinct difference the second day.  Although this soup is good the day of, it is probably ten times better the next day!  So, make sure you have enough for leftovers.  I will be enjoying another bowl at lunch today–which really is perfect because there is no way I’m going out hunting for lunch in this weather.