The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup

I'm in love with this soup!! A very good friend of mine made this for me recently and I fell in love. I'm very picky about my Tortilla Soup and this by far the best ever. She makes hers in the crock pot and I have to agree, that it's easy and tastes just wonderful!! Whatever you do, DO NOT skip the garnishes! They are the icing on the cake! UPDATE April 2010: Obviously I've made this so many times I never even look at the recipe anymore! But I wanted to add some variations that I play around with that are great. Like many reviewers black beans and corn are great additions. Sometimes I add them to the leftovers (if there are any :-) so that is feels like something new the next day! I have also made it several times with shredded pork which turns it into a pork carnitas type of soup. If you like it on the spicy and smoke side buy a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and mince up one or two and add it. And lastly, a little swizzle of half and half or heavy cream just minutes before serving makes it a