Copper Canyon Grill Tortilla Soup

When we lived in Maryland, our favorite local restaurant was a [kinda pricey] grill whose name changed with the seasons. Everything on its very short menu was absolutely delicious. When we went back for Travis's graduation, we ate lunch there with my mom (she convinced the waiter to seat us on the patio even though it wasn't officially open for lunch). I ordered a tortilla soup, and it was, of course, delectable (as Fancy Nancy would say). Then, a few months ago, back in Kansas City, I found myself craving said tortilla soup. Mind you, this place is not a chain restaurant and has changed owners as often as my daughters change tutus. I had no hope of finding a recipe. But, in desperation I googled anyway. Lo and behold. The restaurant actually has a minimalist blog where they share little tidbits of news, and occasionally, a recipe. Can you guess which one they chose to share??? I was in raptures! Here is the original recipe.

Sadly, I definitely did not have any cans of "condensed chicken and rice soup" on hand. What even is that? So I whipped myself up a basic recipe for "chicken and rice soup," that I pretty much made up (hey, if Campbell's can do it, I can do it!), and started there. Here is the abridged recipe:

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 diced onion
1 carrot, chopped (or sliced or whatever you like to do)
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons flour
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 cup cooked chicken (or however much you want... or leftover Thanksgiving turkey, in my case!)
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
Tortilla chips
4 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese (or whatever flavor you like on your tortilla soup!)

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, melt butter and saute onion, carrot, and celery until softened. Add garlic and saute another minute or two. Sprinkle flour over cooked vegetables and stir, cooking for a minute or two longer. Add chicken broth, uncooked rice, cooked chicken, diced tomatoes, and tomato sacue (I have to say these measurements are all rough estimates. Just add however much broth you want to make the appropriate amount of soup! Keep in mind that 1 cup of liquid will be taken up in cooking the rice.) Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until rice is cooked completely.

Place some tortilla chips in the bottom of an individual bowl and sprinkle cheese over the chips. Pour soup over the chips and cheese.