Mexican Chicken Soup

This has quickly become one of my favorite soups for cold days. It goes together fairly quickly and has a wonderful fresh taste with just a hint of spice.

I actually had saved the recipe back when all or most of my kids were still living at home but had never gotten around to making it. I found it again a while back when I was looking for a soup to make for dinner. You see I love a nice hot bowl of soup on a cold evening and we have had more than our share of cold evenings this winter.

This soup has so many things going for it but if I had to pick just one way to describe it I would say it just tastes so fresh.

I like to start by chopping all the veggies, I line up my soup pot and a bowl next to my cutting board and just start chopping. The veggies that are going to be cooked in the first stage go directly into the soup pot and those for later go into the bowl. Next I put on a pair of disposable vinyl gloves (from the first aid aisle in the grocery store) and cut/seed the jalapeno. Then (still wearing the gloves) remove the skin and any excess fat from the chicken. The jalapeno goes directly on a piece of foil on a baking sheet for later. The chicken goes right on top of the veggies in the soup pot.

After I clean up my work area I add the water and seasonings to the soup pot and bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer while I check my email or whatever.

It is very important that the chicken you use is on the bone because that will give so much flavor to the soup. Boneless chicken just can't give enough flavor to the broth.

When you drain the veggies from the first stage of cooking be sure to get as much of the flavorful broth back into the pot from them as you can. I use a wooden spoon and mush the veggies against the strainer to get all the juices out of them.

That first batch of veggies are there to give the flavor to the soup. The ones in the second stage of cooking give some flavor but also some texture too. By doing the soup this way you get the vegetable flavor in the broth and still have wonderful veggies in the soup that are not over cooked. Also because the broth is made fresh you get the wonderful fresh flavors at their peak.

There is plenty of meat and a perfect amount of veggies in each bowl to make for a filling and warming dinner on any cold night.

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do.

Mexican Chicken Soup

1 lb. to 1 ½ lbs. bone in chicken parts (thighs or breasts work the best) skin removed

3 cups water

1 cup chopped onion, divided

1 cup chopped celery, divided

½ cup chopped tomato

¼ cup chopped cilantro (stems and leaves)

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¾ cup chopped carrot

1 jalapeno pepper, cut in half seeds removed.

1 small avocado

In a soup pot combine the water, chicken pieces, ½ cup onion, ½ cup celery, tomato, cilantro, salt, cumin, hot sauce, and ground pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove chicken from pan and set aside to cool.

Strain broth, reserving broth and discarding vegetables.

Add the remaining onion and celery along with the carrot to the stock in the soup pot.

Bring back to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.

Meanwhile heat oven to 425° and roast jalapeno until skin blisters and is dark (about 10-15 minutes) Move pepper pieces to a bowl, cover and allow to cool about 15 minutes. Remove most of the skin and chop pepper.

Remove cooked chicken from the bones and chop or tear it with your fingers (my preference)

Add the chicken and peppers to the soup and heat just until hot through.

Serve in bowls topped with chopped avocado.

Makes 2 large servings