Chicken Tortilla Soup

As I've mentioned previously, I love soup.  My poor husband doesn't like soup nearly as much as I do, but he gets the soup experience whether he likes it or not when I cook.  This is one of my favorite soups, and I'm rather surprised I haven't posted it yet.  Be sure to use brown rice, which has a bit more structure than white rice and will help prevent it from disolving.  So here we go...

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• Enough water to cover the chicken in a large pot
• 2 onions
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed 
• 2 10oz cans Rotel, drained
• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 cups corn (either fresh, frozen, or canned)
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt to taste

Put chicken in large pot and fill with water.  Quarter one of the onions and bell peppers and add to the pot.  Chop the cilantro and add half of it to the pot.  Boil the chicken on medium-high heat until cooked, about 1 hour.  Take chicken out and cool in refrigerator.  Strain off the onion, bell pepper, and cilantro and pour the broth into a bowl.  In the soup pot heat the oil on medium heat.  Chop the other onion and bell pepper and add to the pot.  Sauté until the onion is translucent.  Pour the broth back into the pot and add the black beans, Rotel, rice, corn, cumin, chili powder, and salt.  Bring to a boil.  While waiting for the broth to boil, shred the chicken and add to the pot.  Once the broth is boiling, reduce to low heat and add the rest of the cilantro.  Simmer for an hour.