Chunky Tomato Chicken Soup

Is it cold where you are? Well, it's...."cold".....here in LA (I had to put that in quotes because I realize it's extremely subjective). For us wimps on the left coast, it's a bit colder than it was a few weeks ago, so I guess we can call that fall. Anyhow, if it's at all cold where you are, then you'll really enjoy this one. Warning - it's a bit spicy. You can forgo or greatly reduce the chili powder if you don't like spice. And you can thank Julz for this one - she's my artsy, craftsy, cooking-ey, baking-ey friend.

CHUNKY TOMATO CHICKEN SOUP

Description:
Shredded chicken is added to a soup that combines canned tomatoes, tomato paste, black beans, and green chilies in a well-seasoned chicken broth. (It's basically a cross between chicken soup and chili).

Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Nonstick cooking spray
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used a lot more (like 6 large cloves) because I like it. Tasted good to me!)
4 cups chicken broth (32 ounces, which is usually the size of a carton at the store)
Two 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
One 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
One 6 oz can tomato paste
One 4 oz can diced green chilies (I got Ortega fire roasted mild. Use whatever kind you find - it's loose)
1 tsp chili powder (I used "Arbol" chili powder from the Mexican market. Julz used Cayenne pepper. Either way, I think it turned out quite spicy, so if you're not into spicy, either skip this ingredient, or just put a little dash)
1 tbsp ground cumin, or to taste
1 tsp white pepper (Whatever. I just used regular pepper. I'm not sure of the difference)
1 tbsp basil, dried (I used fresh, since I have a plant. In this case, I think the dried might be a better choice. With fresh, you have to use 3 times as much (literally - that's the conversion rate), and I don't think that in a soup, it really makes a difference).
1 tsp kosher salt (Again, a big "whatever" here. I used regular salt)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (this may be the last ingredient, but it REALLY adds a lot of yummy flavor, so don't skip it!)

Instructions:
Lightly spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Cook chicken breasts until no pink remains. Remove chicken from pan and set aside to cool. Add onion and garlic to pan and cook just until onions start to sweat (I would cook them longer. I found that even after the recipe was totally done, the onions were not entirely soft. I don't like crunchy onions in my soup, so I would just go ahead and cook them until they're translucent, which will make them softer); remove from heat. In large stock pot combine onions, garlic, chicken broth, tomatoes, black beans, tomato paste, green chilies, chili powder, cumin, white pepper and salt. (The instructions seem to have left out the basil, so I went ahead and added it here with all the other ingredients. I'm not sure if that's the right time to add it, since the flavor cooks out of herbs so easily. It tasted good, so I guess the timing was okay). Stir well. Bring to a boil. Shred chicken into bite sized pieces and add to soup. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes then turn off heat. Stir in fresh cilantro before serving. (I just stirred the fresh cilantro into the individual serving bowls. Really adds a great fresh flavor).

I served this soup with big chunky bread and butter. It definitely needs some sort of carbohydrate to go with it, in my opinion. You could also put some Fritos Corn Chips on it (my friend Mary makes a great "Taco Soup" that uses Fritos on top).

So, bundle up and enjoy this hot (in every sense of the word) soup! Farewell from frigid Southern California. ;-)