Mexican Chicken Soup with a side of Mexican "Cornbread"

I'm sure we all love Mexican food in some shape or form right? I love chicken tortilla soup, well really any sort of Mexican soup.  Yes. Yummy! Well, the recipe I use to use contained butter and cream, and it was glorious of course, but we can't go on living a healthy lifestyle and consume butter and cream right? Right.  So, I decided to play around and make one that is similar to the traditional tortilla soup, but without all the fat and it turned out fantastic.  It's spicy, filling, and healthy.  I know we are coming into Spring and warmer weather, but that doesn't mean you have to do away with warm foods like soups and chili.  No way!  If anything, it can be more convenient for warmer weather because you can cook it all ahead of time and freeze it and avoid heating your house up during the extremely warm months.  Or you could easily crock pot this soup!   

From this photo, it looks more like a chili, I know. But Mexican spices are very similar to chili spices.  Yep.  I do not use any packaged seasonings, I make all of my own. It's so simple and actually in the long run, it's also cheaper to make your own. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of chicken
• 2+ cups of chicken stock or broth(see below, I used my own stock, but you can buy a can too)
• 2 stalks of celery chopped
• 1 bell pepper (I use yellow bell pepper just because I prefer the sweetness)
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 can of corn drained
• 2 cups of black beans rinsed(I cooked from dry bag, but you can use one can instead)
• 1 can of Mexican style tomatoes with its juices(important to use this kind)
• 1 can of Fire Roasted tomatoes-salsa style with its juices (important to use this kind)
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tbsp. of garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. of onion powder
• 1 tbsp. of chili powder
• 1 tbsp. of ground cumin
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1 tsp. of pepper

First:
Boil 2-3 chicken legs with bone in-to make a stock. I boil my chicken with celery and onion with some salt and pepper.
Second:
Debone the chicken legs.  You can use more chicken than this if you prefer, I just use minimal meat in my house.
Now, throw all ingredients into one big pot or crock pot and cook until all vegetables are cooked through.    The seasonings can be adjusted to taste of course. 

I added 1 cup of Mexican Quinoa to this recipe.  I did a blog on it previously, but I will post it again here.

1 cup of any kind of quinoa you want

1 tbsp. of garlic powder

1 tbsp. of onion powder

2 tsp. of chili powder

1/4 tsp. of salt

1/4 tsp. of pepper

Prepare your quinoa as you would rice.   1 cup of quinoa requires 2 cups of water to cook. 
Throw all spices in with the raw quinoa, bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer on low for about 20 minutes stirring every couple of minutes.

I also did a Mexican "cornbread" here to pair with this soup.  I also blogged about this before, but the previous recipe contained sage and was more of a basic recipe. 

Mexican "cornbread"
 

1 1/2 cup of oats ground into a flour

1 egg

1/4 cup of Greek Yogurt or you can use 1/4 cup of milk

1 tbsp. of onion powder

1 tbsp. of garlic powder

1 tsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. of baking soda

1/4 cup of sunflower oil

1 tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of pepper

1 tsp. of cumin

1 tsp. of red pepper flakes

1 tsp. of oregano

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until done.  All ovens cook differently, so keep an eye on these to insure they do not burn.  I did mine in muffin form, which cooks quicker.

 

 

I promise you this is an absolutely mouthwatering meal.  It's spicy.  I will say that again.  But I would confidently put this against any tortilla soup recipe. It's amazing.  My husband and I had a convo about how delicious this recipe would be with a touch of cream in it.  I imagine it would be heavenly, but not a cleaner meal. Ha.  Maybe some day I'll prepare that as our "cheat". Ha ha. One more photo of proof for the road?  One more photo to convince you that you need this soup in your life. Ok.

 



 

 

As always, I hope you all enjoy this one as much as we did.  It's a very wholesome meal that is sure to please.  Yummy Mexican Chicken Soup. :) Cheers!