Nothing like a spicy south western soup to warm you up on a chilly day. Specially if you have no electric and you don’t know when it’s coming back. Was hoping to post my pumpkin crêpes-cakes (they are like in between a pancake and a crêpe) but it’s a little easier making soup in the dark (or candle light that is) than making pancakes. Plus it’s kinda okay to have leftovers and eat it a few times without much additional effort. Reheating pancakes without electricity? Not so much.
Since this crazy storm that called itself Sandy came through, the lucky ones have just been out of power, some fared much worse… Since I am usually lucky, I just lost power but am able to keep the freezer stuff alive thanks to my small but potent generator. Kinda silly, but I also have the laptop hooked up right now so I can type this, and to take some of the classes for a certification I am working on, can’t tell you more right now. Soon, I promise. So where was I? Oh, I am saving the pancakes for tomorrow, and I am making some soup!
When everything shuts off, and it’s starting to get cold outside after this storm, having hot soup in your belly makes you happy. No, frankly it’s just because I like soup, a lot, in fact I might be a soup addict, if there is such a thing. But a warm belly should never be underrated, just sayin’. So being trapped inside, I made another soup 🙂 The recipe makes a lot, like for 6 to 8 people, but in this case for one. But it’s so super delicious, I wouldn’t mind eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a few days!
Ingredients
- about half a grilled or roasted chicken *
- 4-6 cups of water
- 2 big cloves of garlic, minced
- 2-4 chilies and 1 tbsp sauce from 1 can of ‘chilies in adobo sauce’
- 2 whole ears of corn (or use about 1 1/2 to 2 cups frozen, canned or fresh kernels)
- 1 small bag of dark red kidney beans**, frozen (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 heaping tbsp pan or masarepa (pre cooked corn meal)
- 1 can (28 oz) San Marzano tomatoes
- lime slices and tortilla chips for serving
*or use 4 cups of good quality chicken stock and some leftover grilled or roasted chicken meat
**I cook my own beans and freeze them in serving size bags for later use. Much cheaper and less sodium than canned and much more flavorful. Also feel free to use black beans to make it more southwestern like I intended, I only had kidney beans left.
Directions
- In a large stock pot cover the roasted chicken with water and 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer until the meat starts to fall off the bones. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool.
- Add the ears of corn to the hot stock until defrosted, then remove and slice the kernels of, return to the soup. (If using kernels, just add)
- Add the beans
- In the meantime, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet and cook the garlic until golden, then chop and add the 2 chilies in adobo and the tablespoon of sauce (use more if you’re friends with the devil and like it HOT) and the can of tomatoes and cook until reduced and starting to thicken. Add to the soup pot.
- When the chicken is cool enough to handle remove the meat from the bones, chop and return back to the soup
- Remove about 1 cup of liquid from soup, set aside to cool slightly then stir the ‘pan’ into it until dissolved and no lumps are left (it will thicken) then stir back into the soup and bring to a simmer. Cook until the soup has slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve garnished with a slice of lime and some tortilla chips on the side.
© 2012 SimpleHealthyHomemade
cooking with wind guard and view of the lake