Slow-Carb Southwestern Chicken Soup

Not everything is about cake, and sadly while 'slow-carb'ing it, there is very little cake!

I came up with this soup recipe in an attempt to put together several ingredients that are relatively 'slow-carb' okay.  The only thing in this soup that is not okay are the corn niblets, but they are such a key ingredient (in my opinion) I chose to put them in. It's a very small amount so I decided to just let it go.

I usually always have fresh cilantro in the fridge, you may not. I do suggest that you grab a bunch and use it in this recipe. Cilantro is generally one of those things that you either love or hate. 

The Soup

Ingredient list & quantities:

2L (or more as needed) Chicken Stock, homemade or tetrapak

3 ribs celery, diced

3 large carrots, diced

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 large chicken breast, cooked, shredded

1 cup cooked black beans

½ cup cooked (fresh or frozen) corn niblets

1 cup salsa

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

½ avocado, diced - optional

Method:

Make the soup base by sautéing the onion, celery and carrots in a little canola oil, add the chicken stock and cook until the veggies are soft. Remove ½ - 1 cup of the veggies and puree/blend the rest. An immersion blender works really well for this.

Add the veggies back into the soup, add the chicken, beans, corn and the salsa and bring back to heat. Season to taste.

To serve, ladle into a bowl and sprinkle the freshly chopped cilantro and avocado on top.

Serves:  depends who is eating           Date created: April 1, 2011

Notes:

• The salsa takes the place of the spicy seasoning and of course adds a few small tomato chunks along with a hint of colour.  This can be substituted by using ground cumin, ground coriander, diced jalapeno and diced tomato, but I always have salsa in the fridge!

• This is sort of like a tortilla soup, but without the tortilla strips of course. It is slow-carb after all. 

• Contents are easily adjusted in quantity to suit taste.