Creamy Chicken Soup | Southwest Flair
Great Northern Beans, Farm Stand Sweet Corn and Chicken make for a rainy day treat!
Hello, I am Wendy—Author of Wendy’s Kitchen & More where I invite you to join me to create something new. Glad you are curious, happy you clicked…
Fall has officially arrived in Upstate, New York in date and temp, which also gets me thinking about creating a one-pot-meal. For those of you who follow me regularly, you know that one-pot-meals are my type of cooking.
As my husband says, “It’s getting to be one of those days”, where we hang, relax and I put something together that takes time on the stove, low and slow. If you are in one of those kinds of moods, this recipe is for you…
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As I am typing my stove beeper chimes in, to alert me that my Great Northern Beans have stopped soaking and are ready for their cooking. I used the quick soak method today, which is so simple—bring beans to a rapid boil for 2-minutes, remove from heat, cover and let chill on the back burner for 1-hour. Onto next step—rinse, fill with water and simmer for 1-hour or 1 1/2-hours until desired texture.
Easy right, grin. You should try cooking with dried beans, seriously it’s a game changer. I get it life is busy, but, if you do have time—try it out. Not to mention the added health benefits of not eating all that sodium and preservatives. It’s what healthy living is all about.
This is going to my day—writing, cooking and sipping on a glass of wine. I will write each step, so you can easily create this tasty comforting one-pot-meal on a slow, raining day.
Why Sweet Corn & Chicken
Why not, grin. I had fresh Farm Stand corn last night for dinner with two amazing NY Strip Steaks charcoal grilled to perfection. It was so delicious. We have a few ears of corn leftover—and I boil chicken breast each week for my furry child! He’s so spoiled I know. So—that’s my inspiration. Chicken, homemade chicken broth, sweet corn, and a bag of dried Great Northern Beans.
Creamy Chicken Soup with a Southwest Flair
Serves 6-8
Time - set aside 3-hours to cook chicken and dried beans. You could always shorten this process by using a rotisserie chicken and a can of Great Northern Beans.
Ingredients
1 large chicken breast (boiled, save the liquid)
1 cup of died Great Northern Beans
2 ears of sweet corn partially cooked
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 stalks of celery, diced
1/4 cup of red one, diced
2/3 cup of milk (I used fat free)
2 tablspoons of flower
1 tablespoon dried cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove of garlic
2 bay Leafs
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup of Frank’s Red-Hot Sauce (optional, but it takes it to a new level)
Lots of 💕
Garnish
Tortilla Corn chips
Sour-cream
Grated cheese (Cheddar or Pepper Jack or both, grin)
Green onions
Directions
1st Step Prepare Your Beans (this will take 2 hours)
Quick Soak Method: Measure a cup of dried beans, rinse, and sort through to remove any damaged beans. Add 6 cups of water to a stockpot, add your beans, bring to a rapid boil, boil for 2-minutes. Remove from heat and continue to soak for 1-hour.
Time to Cook Your Beans: Drain and rinse your beans, add them back to your stockpot, you will notice they have plumped up a bit, but are not soft to eat. This next step will cook your beans. Add another 6 cups of water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, low and slow for another 1 to 1 1/2-hours. After 1-hour check to see if you like the texture of the bean. It should be soft but not mushy or too hard. But let your taste buds choose grin.
2nd Step Prepare your Chicken
I also boil two large chicken breasts. One for pup, and one for us. Place your chicken breast in a stockpot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the internal temperature is 165℉ degrees. Do this while your beans are cooking. This might take 30-minutes. Keep the liquid as this will be delicious chicken broth that you can season. I store in the refrigerator, usually get about 2-quarts of broth from 2 large chicken breasts. Reserve 4 cups for this recipe, add 2 bay leaves, a clove of garlic, and salt & pepper to the warm chicken breath. Shred your chicken breast, set aside.
3rd Step Making the Soup
In the same stockpot, you cooked your chicken in, add your olive oil, red onion, celery and soften. Add your cumin, oregano—cook for another 1–2-minutes to bloom the flavors. Now carefully add your chicken broth, bring to a boil. While the broth is coming to a boil, make a slurry by adding the flower to the milk, stir well to combine. Then when broth comes to a boil, add the milk slurry to thicken the liquid. By boiling the broth, this will thicken your liquid. Reduce heat, add the shredded chicken, beans, heat through. Season with salt and pepper, taste—do you need more S&P. Finish with 1/4 cup of Frank’s Red-Hot sauce. This is optional, but what I will share with you is this adds a mild spicy flavor profile—it’s delicious and not too spicy.
Remove your soup from the heat, cover and let it rest on the back burner for 1-hour, allowing all those flavors to develop. I read about this step in a chowder cookbook. It works, makes a huge difference. When you are ready to serve, simply reheat on low.
Top with diced green onions, tortilla chips, sour-cream and grated cheese of your choice. Yum and so satisfying!
May you enjoy a lazy, cozy day in the kitchen. One-pot-meal season is upon us. Yeah!
Sending love to you and God’s grace to you and your family.
Until we connect again, soon.
Wendy 💕🌶️
Definitely going to try. Only thing I don’t have is celery and I’m going to the farm stand on Wednesday.
Looks so Delicious Wendy...You're the BEST!!