One of
my favorite things to do is turn my leftovers into something spectacular!
I try to do this a lot. I really don't care for leftovers at all, but I
also hate to waste food - so therefore, I have to be creative. If my
leftovers go past 2 days (which is my limit for eating the same dish), I have
to try to make them into something different. On Sunday, I roasted a
chicken, and it was delicious! There are so many things you can do with
leftover chicken. Some of my favorites include: Baked Chicken
Taquitos, Chicken Ranch Pizza, Chicken Noodle Soup, and one of my very
favorites, Chicken Tortilla Soup!! The list goes on and on. I don't
stop at using just the chicken when I make a roasted chicken. You can also use
the carcass for homemade chicken stock - more on that later! This soup is
“oh, so good” and soothing, especially on a cold night like we are forecasted
to have here in Tennessee. I will say that simmering this soup for an
hour is quite a bit of time for a busy mom, so that's why I make it the night
before. When I get home the following night, I just heat it up on the
stove, and if I have enough time, I make some jalapeno cheddar corn bread.
Hmmm, I see yet another recipe in my blog’s future!
Ingredients
1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes*
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 chipotle pepper, diced**
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
4 cups chicken stock
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
3 ears of corn, or 1 (8 oz.) package frozen corn
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In a large stock pot or dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Wait until olive oil has had time to heat (about 4 minutes). Add the onions, garlic and red bell pepper. Saute until the onion is translucent and the bell pepper is softened.
While the onions, garlic and peppers are cooking. Add the 2 cans of tomatoes to a blender or food processor. Blend well. Set aside.
Add the chipotle pepper, ground cumin, chili powder and salt and pepper to the pot and stir. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, corn, black beans and chicken to the pot. Mix until combined.
Bring the soup to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup for about 1 hour. Garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream!
*The original recipe asks you to roast roma tomatoes I did not have time for this step and decided to substitute with Fire Roasted Tomatoes instead.
**You can find canned Chipotle Chili Peppers in Adobo sauce in your local grocery store usually in the Mexican Food isle. Although the recipe only calls for 1 pepper, I freeze the remaining peppers for future use. They freeze very well. When I use them for a future recipe I usually don't even thaw it out, I just remove it from the freezer bag and chop it up.
Labels: Chicken, Main Dish, Soups
