M's tortilla soup

-slightly modified from a recipe my sister emailed me recently. the original recipe will be posted in its entirety and my modifications will follow.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cups chopped onions
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 coarsely chopped zucchini
1/2 large chayote, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/4 lb chopped portobello mushroom
1-2 jalapeno or 2-3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes (the recipe says muir glen, but, hey, fuck
em)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons salt
6 diced corn tortillas
1/2 cup cilantro
garnish tortilla chips, cilantro, avacado
directions:
heat olive oil in a soup pan
add onions garlic cumin oregano cayenne pepper and black pepper then stir for 2 minutes until onions are soft and translucent
add zucchini chayote portobello mushroom and jalepeno or serrano peppers then stir for another 2-3 minutes
add tomatoes tomato sauce and vegetable brother then bring to a boil over medium heat
simmer uncovered for ten minutes
add salt and diced corn tortillas simmer for 5 more minutes
transfer half the soup to a blender and blend until nearly smooth then return blended soup to the pan and stir to combine or put all the soup in blender til smooth stir in cilantro garnish with tortilla chips and mroe cilantro perhaps avacado

My Modifications

I simply replaced the veggie stock in the recipe with some chicken stock I made myself after roasting a chicken in the oven, and added a small amount of pepper jack cheese when I added the tortillas. I used these red corn tortillas Karen's dad sent up, and they worked great. I also added just over a cup of water at some point after the tomato stuff went in, as well as about 1/4 cup of leftover corn and Ro-Tel. I have yet to serve it, but preliminary taste tests are extremely promising.