Chicken Enchilada Soup

Everything I ever needed to know I learned on Facebook. Case in point, my FB friend Donald posted something about his dinner, which was going to be Chicken Enchilada Soup. Mmmm, I thought, that sounds good. I looked online and found some recipes, but they all seemed to be copying the recipe from Chili’s, and included Velveeta and Cream of Chicken Soup, both of which struck me as being pretty non-Mexican, and kind of turned my stomach. Donald had the ingredients he uses, but no amounts. The ingredient list was: chicken, corn, onions, black beans, RoTel tomatoes with chilies, black olives, enchilada sauce, chicken broth, cheese, cilantro, and tortilla chips. Mmmm. No Velveeta (though not necessarily NOT Velveeta either, if you know what I mean) or cream of chicken soup in sight. So I thought I’d give it a try. I don’t know if my measurements were correct, but it was a big hit around here. So, here’s my recipe. You can go with it, and if you think it needs something different, change it around.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast (both breasts..I’m never sure if that’s two or one. Just over a pound, I think)
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 or 2 tblsp vegetable oil
• 1 can black beans
• 1 small frozen bag of corn
• 1 can RoTel tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 can sliced black olives
• 1 small can enchilada sauce (you can go red or green on this one…I went green, because I like my enchiladas suiza)
• 1 can chicken broth
• tortilla chips – Donald was emphatic that they be Juanita’s Tortilla Chips, but I went to two stores and couldn’t find any, so I used another brand
• shredded cheese – 4 cheese Mexican combo
• cilantro for garnish
• avocado, diced

Directions
Cut chicken into four even pieces. Wash and pat dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until soft. Add chicken to pot and brown gently on both sides. Add remaining ingredients, through broth. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken to a cutting board and let rest for a few minutes. Then shred chicken and return to dutch oven. Simmer until everyone is ready to eat.

In each bowl, crumble some tortilla chips, add some cheese, and pour the soup on top. Garnish with cilantro and avocado, if desired. Serve immediately.

Thanks Donald! This was a wonderful recipe, and I’m sure we’ll be having it again soon. We might even try it with red enchilada sauce. Let me know if I got some measurements crazy wrong, k?