Mexican Soup

Bless me blogo-sphere, for I have sinned. It’s been…two months since my last post.

Oh, and I eat cheese now.

Shew. Feels good to get that off my chest.

Yes, dear Fuss has outgrown the milk intolerance!! Well…sort of. I started eating dairy at 10 months. Her GI doc convinced me to test it again. I was nervous, considering how it went at 6 months but apparently that’s like years in baby world. Taking his advice, I went all out with pizza. I was going to gradually add it back but it seemed there was always something making her fussy…teeth, winter viruses, general irritability…and I needed answers.

The sort of part is that whenever she eats cheese it doesn’t seem to agree, so for now we’re doing soy milk instead of whole (since we just passed the one year mark! Woo hoo!). Not my favorite choice because of all the hype over phytoestrogens but my pediatrician – who happens to be Asian and grew up on soy milk – assured me those studies are inconclusive. So there’s the whole story…not that you asked…or care.

What’s that? You do care? Awwww. Thanks. I care too if you want to share your story. 🙂

Soooo….to make up for my MIA status, I wanted to post an extremely EASY weekend recipe, sans dairy of course. But first, an apology for the pictures. I guess I’ve gotten a bit rusty. But better to post with ugly pictures than not to post at all, right?

I think that was in Psalm. Or maybe Job.

This recipe came from a magazine that my mother-in-law tore out. She’s a caterer and always has beaucoups of fabulous recipes torn from this magazine or that. I think it was Southern Living?

I made this one Sunday after boiling a whole hen. That sounds intense but it’s really not, and I was able to make about 3-4 dishes from one bird, plus you can use the stock and freeze the rest. So if you have the time, I recommend it because in addition to this soup (which freezes great) you could do enchiladas, chicken pot pie, chicken salad, shredded chicken with black beans…whatever tickles your fancy.

Anyway, it begins with cooked chicken. If you don’t want to cook a whole bird, boil 4 boneless breasts, let them cool and dice.

To which you add onion…

And saute with a little oil until lightly browned.

Then, you open a bunch of cans. (Told you this was easy.)

I like to drain and wash canned veggies, but don’t drain tomatoes because you need the juice.

Add them all to the pot along with the broth.

Throw in 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Bring to a boil, stirring often. Then cover, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.

In the last 10 minutes or so, add a whole heap of cilantro. It called for a specific amount but I added the whole bunch because my mother-in-law said so.

I always do as I’m told.

So that’s it! Easy peasy. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of the finished product, but imagine piping hot soup topped with crunched up tortilla chips and happy little sprigs of cilantro on top. Mmm…I’m hungry now. Must go eat.

Enjoy!

Mexican Soup
(adapted from Southern Living) 

•  4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp veg. oil
• 2 (10 oz) cans Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilis
• 1 (19 oz) can kidney beans
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans
• 1 (15 oz) can kernel corn
• 2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth (or 28 oz stock)
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• One bunch of cilantro or less to taste

Boil chicken until cooked through. Let cool and chop into bite-sized pieces. Add chicken, onion and oil to large stock pot and saute over medium high heat until lightly browned. Drain and rinse beans and corn, then add them along with Rotel and broth. Add chili powder, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring often, cover and reduce heat. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add cilantro and stir.