Why-the-Chicken-Crossed-the-Road Santa Fe-Tastic Tortilla Soup

Why-the-Chicken-Crossed-the-Road Santa Fe-Tastic Tortilla Soup
From Rachael Ray's recipes posted on Food Network.

This soup has quite the name but it delivers fantastically. We found ourselves going back for seconds and the boys couldn't get enough of it, so it's definitely a keeper. It makes quite a bit, but not to worry the leftovers are just as delicious, I hope you enjoy. I think next time to speed the recipe up a little bit, we will just use chicken leftover from a whole chicken that we have a night before. I hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Ingredients

Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons -- 2 turns of the pot in a slow stream (We used olive oil)
3 ears corn on the cob or 2 ears fresh-frozen cobs, defrosted
1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
1 pound chicken breast tenders(We used 2 chicken breast sliced thin to cook faster)
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
1 teaspoon cumin, 1/3 palm full
Salt and pepper
1 small to medium zucchini, small dice
1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 to 2 chipotle in adobo peppers (medium to hot heat level), chopped -- available in small cans in Mexican and Spanish food section of market(I just used what green chiles
1 can stewed tomatoes, 28 ounces
1 can tomato sauce, 8 ounces
3 cups chicken stock (unfortunately, I didn't have any on hand so I just used chicken broth)
4 cups blue corn tortilla chips, broken up into large pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar or pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream (I omitted this)

Optional garnishes:
1/4 red raw onion, chopped (We used green onions-scallions)
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
1 ripe avocado, diced and dressed with the juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

Heat a grill pan to high and a soup pot to medium high. Drizzle oil on corn and place on grill. Add red pepper to grill with corn. Char vegetables 10 minutes, total, turning occasionally. Remove to cool, 5 minutes. Remove charred skin from the pepper.
While vegetables cook, dice chicken. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot soup pot. Add chicken to pot. Season with poultry seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper. Lightly brown chicken on each side. Add zucchini, onions and garlic and chipotle peppers. Cook vegetables with chicken 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and stock. Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.
Scrape corn off cob and add to soup. Chop grilled red pepper and stir into soup. Add chips to soup in handfuls and fold in. Serve soup immediately with scatter of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Top with any or all of the suggested garnishes.