White Chicken Chili

 

As I have mentioned before, I'm a fan of soup, and lately I've been craving hearty soups.  They are so comforting on cold winter days.  February is always a challenging month, because the holidays are over, but spring is still a long way aways.  Consequently, a hearty soup is just the thing to warm you up and comfort you.  I got the original recipe from here, but I made some significant changes.  

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 3 stalks celery
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 4-oz. can green chilies, drained
• 1 can Rotel, drained
• 3 15-oz. cans of cannellini beans, drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 8-oz. package cream cheese
• 3 cups shredded chicken
• 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1.5 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander

Sauté onion, bell pepper, and celery until softened.  Add garlic and sauté 1 minute longer.  In blender, add 1 can of beans and 2 cups of chicken broth and puree.  Add the chicken broth and bean mixture, the rest of the chicken broth, green chilies, Rotel, and spices to the onion mixture.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the cream cheese and stir until melted.  Grate the lime and then squeeze the juice.  Add both the peel juice.  Add the rest of the beans, corn, chicken, and cilantro.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.