Montana Soup

I created this recipe after visiting Big Sky country, that is the great state of Montana.  One day we visited a local restaurant in Whitefish called "Loula's." I had their southwestern chicken soup as an appetizer, however because I didn't use the exact ingredients, nor did I have their recipe, I renamed it Montana soup because big sky was my inspiration!  Here she blows!

Ingredients:

• veggie trinity 
• 1 whole yellow onion, diced 
• 8 oz sliced celery 
• 8 oz sliced baby carrots
• 1 8oz carton fresh portabella mushrooms, sliced
• 3 bell peppers, (1/2 red, 1/2 green, & 1/2 yellow)
• 1 whole seriano pepper
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 22 oz tomato puree
• 64 oz regular chicken broth
• paprika
• oregano
• red pepper flakes
• Emeril's southwestern essence seasoning *optional* 
• salt
• pepper

Prepare:

1. Heat large pot on medium high (don't need to grease)
2. Saute trinity until softened 
3. Add pinch of salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes + 1 T paprika
4. Cut chicken a.s.a.p. (as small as possible) or cook whole & then shred
5. Heat separate saute pan coated with olive oil - add chicken, salt and pepper, 1 T paprika (REMEMBER: SEASON AS YOU GO!)
6. Cook until almost no pink, a little pinky = okay, it will cook out when added to soup - set aside
7. Mince/press fresh garlic - add to trinity
8. Add tomato puree to trinity
9. Add another pinch of S&P and small pinch crushed red pepper
10. Prep peppers by removing core and seeds, dice all
11. CAREFULLY handle seriano, do no touch eyes while handling - be sure to mince and remove all seeds, then WASH HANDS!
12. Add all peppers to trinity
13. Add chicken to pot as well
14. In empty chicken pan, add 2 T butter & mushrooms
15. Saute mushrooms until softened
16. Add mushrooms to pot
17. Stir until all well combined
18. Add one more pinch of S&P, 1 T paprika, several dashes Emeril's Seasons (if you don't have, use garlic salt)
19. Add chicken broth and allow slow rolling boil for 10 minutes
20. Cover and reduce to simmer for 30 min - 1 hour
21. Service with crusty baguette - you'll need it to cool your mouth down!

This may seem like a lot of steps, but hey I'm a detailed person when it comes to recipes, and the amount of soup you end up with  make this labor of love soup totally worth it. Let me know if you try this out!  My husband raved about it, so I thought if he *being the soup connoisseur that he is* liked it, it must be good enough to share! Bon appetit!