Coarsely chop up a small onion and two fresh seeded jalapeño peppers. The more jalapeño seeds that wind up in the soup the hotter it is going to be. If you've never made it before I'd suggest for the first time go with one pepper without the seeds. The next hotter level is 2 jalapeños without seeds then one pepper with the seeds and the hottest is 2 peppers with the seeds.

Put a 6-8 quart stock pot on the stove at medium high and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Put in the chopped onion and jalapeño and stir them together. While they are cooking finely chop 3-4 cloves of garlic and when the onion starts to get translucent add the garlic. Squeeze half of a lime onto the garlic. Mix it all together and add the salt, pepper, cumin and a pinch of cayenne pepper,, if you want. Yes, it adds a bit more heat to it but it also adds another flavor to the mix.

Add two quarts of chicken stock and mix it all together. Then the chicken. You can just cut up boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs or you can just take frozen chicken tenders and put them right in the pot. When they get pliable take them out, cut them up and put the pieces back in.Also add the corn, garbanzo beans, black beans, the cilantro, (save some for garnish) and the tomatoes. Squeeze in the juice from the other half of the lime. Bring it to a boil then lower it to a fast simmer.

Stir it every five minutes or so and get the garnishes ready while the soup cooks. Turn the oven on at 350°F. Cut up 4 corn tortillas into 1/2" strips. Spray oil a cookie sheet and spread the strips out on it. Put it in the oven for 3-4 minutes and check the strips for crispness. When they are crispy to your liking take them out and put them in a dish to rest.

Slice or quarter a lime and cut up the avocado into the size pieces or slices that you want. Also have some sour cream standing by.

Cook the soup for twenty minutes. Longer if you have the time, but twenty minutes simmering all together will get the job done. When the soup has about another ten minutes to cook whisk together about two tablespoons of corn meal with a few tablespoons of water and mix it into the soup. Take about half of the tortilla strips, break them in half and add them to the soup. Mix everything together, cook for another ten minutes. Serve it up and garnish your bowl the way you want it. Enjoy your Chicken Tortilla Soup!