Light Mexican Soup with Chicken, Hominy and Black Beans
What do you do with a chicken carcass after a chicken dinner? You know I don’t throw anything away, well anything that could be used. My Mom has said, “Did you grow up in the depression?” Ha Ha! Now I’m finally part of the “IN” crowd being so resourceful. I bought a yummy rotisserie chicken; we had it for dinner and I saved the leftover meat for lunch sandwiches during the week. The meat is hard to get off the bones so once your family is done picking at it, boil the bones and you will get a nice broth and extra meat for soup.
To make the broth place chicken bones in a large stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. Remove bones with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl to cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove all the chicken off the bones and discard bones. Look at all that chicken, I bet it’s more than you thought was there.
See how rich the broth looks? It tastes so much better than canned broth and takes such little effort. At this point, you can use the broth in a recipe, refrigerate the broth to use within a couple of days or put into a freezer container and freeze.
Note: I don’t add herbs or any vegetables to the water so that the finished broth is more versatile. When I roast a chicken and stuff it with herbs, such as rosemary and thyme, I add herbs to simmer with the bones for broth. I simply mark the container if I’m not using it right away. I don’t think an “herb” chicken broth would work well for a Mexican soup.
Using my herb-free broth I created this light Mexican soup with hominy and black beans. Perfect if your New Year’s resolution is to eat healthy.
Light Mexican Soup with Chicken, Hominy and Black Beans
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 stalk celery chopped (about 1 cup)
1 onion chopped (about 1 cup)
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapeño diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 ½ cup chopped plum tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
3 roasted poblano peppers, chopped*
1-15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1-15 ounce can yellow or white hominy**
2 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh cilantro
Avocado
Lime wedges
Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat; add oil. Once hot add celery and onion; sauté for 2 minutes or until slightly softened. Add garlic and jalapeño cook for 1 minute. Add cumin, chili powered and oregano; stirring cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and chicken broth bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add roasted peppers, black beans, hominy and chicken; stir and cook for 10 minutes or until heated through.
To serve: ladle soup into bowls, top with lots of chopped or torn cilantro, it adds lots of freshness to the soup. Add chopped avocado and serve with lime wedges to zest it up.
*I suggest roasted Poblano Peppers in this recipe, but I use whatever peppers I have on hand. During harvest season I roast my peppers, peel them and store in the freezer. I may do a mix of peppers; some mild, some hot and some smoked. So, use whatever peppers you have in the freezer – about 1 cup chopped.
**Hominy is a corn product and sold in white or yellow. I prefer the yellow hominy it has more of a corn flavor. You can find it in the Ethnic section of your grocery store or next to the canned corn in the canned veggie aisle.
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Looks yummy….I’m ready to try this one.