Chicken, black bean & cilantro soup

By claudiag

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, diced small
• 1 cup celery, diced small (use celery leaves too if available)
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T chile powder
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• 1 tsp. garlic powder or garlic puree
• 4 cups homemade chicken stock (or 2 cans chicken broth)
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 cup salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce)
• 6-8 drops Green Tabasco Sauce or your favorite hot sauce (taste to see if you want this)
• 1 or 2 cans black beans (not drained unless you choose to rinse the beans to reduce the amount of sodium)
• 2 cups cooked chicken, cut in very small pieces (leftover rotisserie chicken is great for this)
• 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems (chop the stems very small), plus more for serving if desired
• 3 T fresh lime juice
• cut limes, for serving (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

In a large heavy soup pot, saute onions and celery in olive oil 3-5 minutes, until soft but not browned. Add the ground cumin, chile powder, celery seed, and garlic and saute about 2 minutes more.

Add the chicken stock, vegetable broth, tomatoes, and salsa, and simmer 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, taste for hotness and add green Tabasco if desired. Add black beans and chicken and simmer 15-20 minutes more. While the soup simmer, wash, dry and chop enough fresh cilantro to make 1 cup chopped cilantro. and squeeze enough limes to make 3 T juice.

After 15-20 minutes, add the chopped cilantro and simmer 5 minutes, then add lime juice and cook 2-3 minutes more. Serve hot with fresh limes to squeeze into the soup, with sour cream and additional chopped cilantro to sprinkle on top if desired.

To make a delicious vegetarian soup, use 3 cans vegetable broth and eliminate the chicken stock, and 3 cans black beans and eliminate the chicken.