Brownifer Bites: Mexican Chicken Soup (with recipe)

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Mexican Chicken Soup (with recipe)

Threw this together tonight for my first adventure in canning soup. I actually wrote down a recipe!!! Sort of; soup is about taste and personal preference. I listed my ingredients but no quantities because well...everyone likes different flavors. Soup depends on the size of your pot as well. Always remember that soup grows quickly and you can end up nearly overflowing the pot if you're not careful. I always make too much 
But soup freezes amazingly well and it can be pressure canned if you're so inclined. 

Chicken...I just buy a whole organic cooked chicken and pull the meat, shredding and tearing it into small pieces. It gives me a good balance of light and dark meat and if I don't use the whole chicken, I have plenty for chicken salad later. Ain't nobody got time to cook a whole chicken! If you prefer large chunks of chicken, you can absolutely cook some thighs or breasts and chop them. Totally your call.
I also don't prep for this until I'm cooking. The time it takes to cut and chop and shred chicken gives the soup time to simmer and flavors to make friends. 

Taste your soup after stirring in batches of anything and adjust your spices and salt. Taste constantly. Add small amounts at a time; you can always add more but you can't take it out! You'll know the soup is done when the veggies are soft and you taste it without thinking something is missing. With soups, I follow a rule my friend from India gave me: if it's missing something you can't put your finger on, add cumin. This has NEVER failed me 
Ingredients:
Chicken, cooked
Canned black beans, drained and rinsed
Canned tomatoes
Salsa
Canned green chiles
Chopped onion
Chopped celery
Chopped carrots
Raw garlic cloves
Zucchini and yellow squash, sliced and quartered
Cumin, salt, chili powder, cilantro, thyme, garlic powder to taste
Directions:
1. Sauté onions, carrots and celery with olive oil until soft, adding fresh minced garlic halfway through.
2. Fill pot with water until covering vegetables, bring to a boil.
3. Add zucchini and yellow squash, add water to cover vegetables again. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
4. Add salt and spices to taste
5. Add chicken, keep simmering
6. Add beans
7. Add canned tomatoes, juice and all
8. Add green chiles
9. Throw in some salsa for flavor
10. Simmer and adjust spices until the flavor is what you want. If you want spicy, add some cayenne pepper a little at a time.

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