Oil
1 green chili (Anaheim-type mild)
4 chicken thighs
¼ of a med sweet onion, sliced
2 cans chicken broth
Shredded cabbage
Sliced celery
3 or 4 green onions
1 can Mexican-style cut tomatoes (or Rotel if you like
those; they’re spicier)
1 can Niblets-type corn, drained
1 garlic clove
¼ to ½ cup rice
Garlic powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, other
seasonings as desired.
3 or 4 corn tortillas, cut into short strips
Shredded cheese (opt)
Sour cream (opt)
The best thing to do is to char the green chile on the
grill in the normal fashion and sweat it, peel it, remove the seeds and chop it
(this is the best flavor). In a pinch,
cut it up and de-seed it, place it in a pan with a little hot oil… and fry it
with about ½ to ¾ cup shredded cabbage, the green onions and the celery (which
you’ve sliced thin). Add your seasonings
to this mixture as you sauté it just long enough that it is about tender. Set this aside.
Meanwhile, heat a couple of TB of oil in a soup pot, add
the 1/4 sliced onion, the whole garlic clove in halves and the chicken thighs. Brown them on both sides, then add the
broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer
for 30 or 40 minutes. Remove the
chicken pieces, set aside to cool. Add the rice
to this at the right time for the rice you are using – I use 20-minute rice so I
added it when there was 20 or 30 minutes left on the total cooking time. Before adding the rice, I fish out the onion
and garlic I used while simmering the chicken and toss it out.
After removing the chicken, I add the lightly-sautéed vegetables,
the corn and the tomatoes. Pull the
chicken, tossing the skin. Add the
pulled chicken to the pot. Add more
seasonings as desired. I used about 1
tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp or two of chili powder, 1 tsp of garlic powder,
some chopped parsley. You could add red pepper or a jalapeno for heat if you
want it, and maybe some cilantro if you wish. Heat
the soup through and then leave on very low heat for about 20 or 30 minutes.
Just before serving, heat some oil in a heavy skillet,
and when it is sizzling hot, add the tortilla strips. Fry until they are starting to brown a little
– then drain on paper towel. You don’t want
to do them too soon, or they’ll get soggy while resting. Do this JUST before serving.
If using cheese, jack would be good. Spoon shredded cheese into bottom of each
serving bowl. Ladle the hot soup onto the cheese and top with crispy corn
tortilla strips. I think a dollop of
sour cream would also be good.
Instead of adding the cheese to the soup, I served this with no cheese but had a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.
[Note: If you have the time to cook your soup longer and slower, then you can also create your own broth by using water instead of canned broth, and adjusting the cooking method for a longer process. Much healthier, less salt!]
Instead of adding the cheese to the soup, I served this with no cheese but had a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.
[Note: If you have the time to cook your soup longer and slower, then you can also create your own broth by using water instead of canned broth, and adjusting the cooking method for a longer process. Much healthier, less salt!]
