Chicken Chili Verde
Okay, so you know how I've told you that I love quick & easy meals & I made you a whole list of 30 minute meals with a grocery list & everything!?!? Well this Chicken Chili Verde isn't that. BUT HOLD ON... don't scroll away from this recipe becasue this soup is going to blow your mind!
It takes a little bit of work on the front end, but once you fill your soup pot full of all the amazing ingredients in this soup, you will have a scrumptious, hot bowl of goodness that is perfect for colder weather. AND guess what else!?!? It freezes amazingly! So if you don't want to eat the whole pot in one week, just freeze in smaller portions & you will have a ready made lunch or dinner. And one more awesome thing about this soup...because it has so much protein & veggies in it, all you need to do is cut up an avocado to garnish it & you will have a perfectly balanced meal with healthy protein, fat & healthy carbs! Hooray for one bowl goodness.
A couple of tips....this soup can be a little spicy or a lot of spicy so watch the cayenne pepper...I gave a bowl of this to a friend who told me it was wonderful but way too spicy for the littles in their family so make sure you take that into consideration. Also, it would be advantageous to go ahead & pre-chop & prepare all the ingredients so when you get to that step in the soup, things go really quick & smooth. This will always help to reduce any frustration with recipes that take a little longer ;)
Enjoy!
Chicken Chili Verde
ingredients
6 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
1/2 cup olive oil
1 head cauliflower, "riced"*
8 tomatillos, husked & quartered
1 yellow onion, peeled & finely chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped & loosely packed
{2} 4 ounce cans mild green chilis, undrained
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
3 tablespoons arrowroot flour
4 teaspoons ground cumin / divided
3 teaspoons salt / divided
2 teaspoons dried oregano / divided
1 teaspoon pepper / divided
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
optional garnish: avocado & cilantro
*to "rice" califlower, place roughly chopped florets into a large food processor & pulse until chopped to the size of grains of rice
directions
in a medium size bowl, combine arrowroot flour, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon oregano & 1/2 teaspoon pepper. dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture.
in a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium high. brown the chicken breasts about 3-4 minutes per side & then remove to a plate & keep warm.
add in the onions & sauté for about 5 minutes, until translucent & beginning to brown. then stir in the tomatillos, green chilis, garlic, cilantro & remaining spices.
place the riced cauliflower & the chicken over the onion mixture, then pour the broth over all of the ingredients. bring to a boil & then reduce heat to low & cover. Simmer 45 minutes.
remove chicken breasts, shred, add them back into soup pot & stir well.
serve immediately with avocado.
