White Bean and Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 2lbs of ground chicken
• 2 cups grilled chicken, diced
• 1 large green pepper
• 1 large white onion
• 2 small cans of green chilies (medium)
• 1 jalapeno
• 2 tbsp. butter
• ½ cup flour
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans white kidney beans
• 2 cans chickpeas
• 1 cup of half and half
• 4-5 cups of chicken stock
• 3 tbsp. cumin
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. oregano
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Start by browning the ground chicken in two tablespoons of olive oil in a large stock pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Once the chicken is done, remove from the pan and set aside. I also add leftover grilled chicken to this because it adds extra texture and favor to the soup. If you don’t have any leftover chicken to dice up, simply buy a rotisserie chicken and dice that up.

In the same pan you used to brown the chicken, heat the butter and add the onions, pepper, jalapeno and garlic. Cook the mixture until soft and add the spices. Wait until the end to add salt. Now start your roux by slowly adding the flour. This will help thicken the chili. If you want your chili to be less thick, just adjust the amount of flour you put in. Or you can add more chicken stock at the end.  Mix the flour in until the onion and pepper mixture is well coated. Now, slowly whisk in the half and half and keep whisking until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps from the flour. Bring the mixture to a boil

and add the chicken stock and canned green chilies. Let the mixture thicken and come to a simmer again.

Once the chili has thickened, add the cooked chicken and beans. Let all the yummy flavors come together for about 15-20 minutes on medium to low heat before adjusting the thickness with more flour or stock. Now, one final adjustment with the flavor: Salt! I like to add salt at the very end because the soup continues to get more flavorful throughout the cooking process. And over salted chili or soup is no good!

NOTE: If you’d like it thicker, whisk some flour and a stock in a small bowl together to get the lumps out, before adding to the chili. If you’d like the chili thinner, simply add more stock to the mixture.

Once the flavors have combined and the chili is the right thickness, serve with garnishments such as Greek yogurt, sour cream, diced avocado, shredded cheese, cilantro, radish, corn tortillas, or anything else your heart desires. Enjoy! [/Recipe]