Mexican Chicken Soup Ina Style

As a Barefoot Blogger, I have to say I have been thrilled to focus on many of the fabulous Ina Garten recipes in print. I have tried some recipes that I probably would have overlooked for one reason or another. Have they all been winners? No, but I have found a few that with tweaking, I could learn to really love. Today's challenge of Mexican Chicken Soup is such a recipe.

What did I love about this recipe? I loved the shredded chicken technique. I normally cook the hell out of a chicken and bone it and use the broth in some sort of soupy way. Well, since my 16 year old is a vegetarian, I have had to re-think my way of cooking. I am glad to change foods to suit her needs since she is such a good and wonderful child, who hardly ever gives me grief; I figure making things work for her benefit, benefit me too!

What I did or would do different:

• In this recipe I substituted the veggie stock for chicken stock.
  
• Good so far, I roasted the chicken and used the juices in the soup after I portioned out some soup for her.
• I liked the white corn tortillas! My tortillas really kind of thickened my soup.
• I did not care for the carrots. I understand their use in an aromatic sense, but they seemed out of place in this recipe.
• This recipe screamed for Hatch, New Mexico green chile's. Luckily as a good Mexican-American girl, I keep oodles and oodles in my freezer. I don't imagine even Ina goes to the lengths I do to keep a fresh roasted supply of these lovelies in stock.
• I would probably add some hominy in place of the carrots. Even fresh corn would have been a better addition here than the carrots. Do you understand....I did not like the carrots?
• I didn't like the sour cream either, but it did look pretty on the soup. It was optional, I felt it took away from the true flavor of the soup.
  

Did I mention I didn't like the carrots? Even potatoes would have been better here.

Pretty bird....