Sunday

Tortilla soup (recipe in the comments)
Radicchio and grapefruit salad with honey lime dressing

Hot tea
Glazed chocolate Christmas cake
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Well, it's just our immediate family again. As usual for me, it seems like the Christmas/New Years season both flew by and lasted a long time. How can that be? At any rate, it is comforting to be returning to normal. In so doing, M and I are returning to a recipe we first made right after we got married. Tortilla soup used to be one of our superstar meals that we had relatively frequently (more than once a year!), but has fallen off the "playlist" in the past few years. We're not sure why. Maybe because it's a bit more involved than our typical recipe (frying the tortilla strips is an extra step and the soup simmers for 30 minutes). More likely we just have been making other things. Regardless, we're excited to be returning to it. This is a spicy (not hot spicy, but rather well seasoned spicy) version and the hot soup with pureed tortillas and crunchy tortilla strips is high comfort - at least for the two of us. We bought two heads of radicchio for the salad with the shrimp enchiladas, so the salad is repeated with a new citrus tonight.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Onion, smash garlic, cilantro, chicken, grate cheese
Time: 50 minutes
Make ahead: Yes, and in several ways. You can prep ingredients and fry the tortillas and then hold or you can make the whole broth and puree, holding right before you add the chicken. Last, you can make the whole soup ahead. The only downside to this last option is the chicken gets a bit overcooked when you reheat, but it's not horrible, so if that's best for your timeframe, go right ahead.

Reaction
J: "Why have we waited so long to have this again???"
M: "Living in Ann Arbor,we *are* our favorite Mexican restaurant."