Mexican Tinga Tostadas

The last few days the temperatures have been rising here and we're trying to find light summer dinners that don't heat up the house. Lately we've been trying lots of different tacos and tostadas and this is one of our favorites that we learned from some friends and is a traditional Mexican dish that consists of sauteed onions, shredded chicken, and tomatoes and chipotle chiles-a flavor that is becoming a staple in our house. If you are adverse to onion, you may want to change it up a bit as the original dish has just as much onion (or maybe even more) than the chicken. My husband would prefer that I'd leave them out completely or blend them to nothing, but I personally love sautéed onions, so I give this 5 stars!

Ingredients for the Tinga:

• 5 large chicken breasts (or really any part of the chicken that you want to shred)
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 large or 4 yellow onions
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• **1-2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• salt
• chicken broth as needed

To serve:

• tostadas
• sour cream
• cilantro
• Queso cotija (Mexican crumbling cheese--this can be found in most grocery stores)
• lime
• any other garnishing that you prefer - I've seen some people add avocado, shredded lettuce, and even sliced radishes on top. Get creative and make it how you will love it!

Instructions:

Cook chicken prior to making the sauce. (I like to make mine in the crockpot or roast it in the oven for simple shredding). Cook Puree tomatoes and chiles in the blender. Sauté onions in olive oil until they are soft and translucent. Add puree to the onions and let simmer with bay leaves. Add chicken broth to your desired consistency and flavor. Add shredded to chicken at the end so as not to over cook. 

When the Tinga mixture is ready, spread sour cream on the tostadas, top with Tinga, crumbled cheese, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Enjoy!

**Chiptole peppers in adobo can be found in the Mexican food section of your grocery store. We like La Costeña brand, but I'm sure any brand will do. Any extra peppers will store for quite  awhile in the refrigerator and you can even freeze them in the sauce and use them at a later date. I do this quite a bit as they are quite strong and I never need an entire can of them.