Chicken Tortilla Soup

I have several recipes for Chicken Tortilla Soup but this one is my favorite. It is hearty enough to be a meal or you can serve it with a Mexican dish.

1 whole chicken, cooked and diced or 4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1 med. onion - chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T. butter
3 1/2 cans (10 oz) chicken broth
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 141/2 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 4 oz. can green chilies, drained
1/3 cup FRESH chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 sm can mexi-corn
corn tortillas
cooking oil
shredded monterey jack cheese
small lime
sliced avocados

In large saucepan, cook onion and garlic in butter until tender - not brown. Add chicken and stir in broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, corn, chilis, cilantro and all remaining spices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer covered for about 30-40 min. Meanwhile, cut tortillas into thin strips. In a skillet, heat oil and place strips into hot oil and cook until crisp and light brown. Drain on paper towels. Right before serving, squeeze juice of lime into soup. Place strips of tortillas in soup bowl. Add cheese and cover with soup. Can add avocado on top if desired.

(If I don't want to fry the tortillas or if I don't have corn tortillas on hand, I will crunch up regular tortilla chips in the bottom of my bowl and it works good as well) I also add more or less broth depending on how thin or hearty I want it.