Tuesday --- Salsa Chicken & Black Bean Soup 🍂

Published: Thu, 09/10/20

Thursday, September 10th, 2020.

Well, 2020 is the year that keeps on giving ---

yesterday the SF Bay spent the day in the dark -- the sky really made it look like we were living on Mars.

The photos don't give it justice because the camera kept trying to auto-correct to brighten the picture.

At 12noon, I needed to use a flashlight to walk into an outside corridor to find the key hole for a storage closet!

That said, I'm fine, my family is fine --- but there are so many who are NOT fine right now.

Please take care of yourself and reach out to your support networks -- this time of our lives is filled with so much ickiness and suffering.

And that stinks, and it isn't fair.

Lots and lots of love to you, wherever you are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is Friday Eve --

and I promised to share Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup with you.

I wish I have taken a tally of how many lovely and wonderful comments and reviews I've gotten about this soup.

it's good soup.

really good soup.

(lol, now I'm channeling Joey from Friends!)

and you should make it!!

The Ingredients:

1 pound chicken (I used frozen breast tenderloins)
1 cup dried black beans (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)

4 cups chicken broth
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen corn
1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

--1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)
--shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, cilantro (all optional)

The Directions:

I used a 6.5 quart crockpot. You will need a 4 quart or larger.

If you know you are going to make this the night before (yay for meal planning!) soak the black beans in enough water to cover and another 2 inches overnight.

In the morning, drain the water and rinse the beans.

If you don't have super hard water or live in a super high altitude, you can quick soak the beans by pouring boiling water over them and let them sit for an hour or two.

I did an hour, but 2 would really be better if you have the time.

Drain and rinse the beans. Add to the crockpot. Put in the chicken, and add the broth and salsa.

Pour in the corn and mushrooms, and add the cumin.

Stir, but don't disturb the beans---let them stay at the bottom of the pot, closest to the heating element.

Cover and cook on high for 9 hours. Yup. High. For 9 hours.

It took a crazy long time for the beans to soften, but they did.

If you are using beans you soaked overnight, canned beans, or pre-cooked beans, you can cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5--similar to normal soup-cooking time.

If you'd like to thicken the broth (I did this), you can use your immersible blender (I love that thing) to blend a bit of the beans and chicken.

If you don't have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditional blender.

Stir the mixture back into the crockpot.

Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving, and garnish with shredded cheese and avocado slices.

The Verdict:

We all loved this. My crockpot was more than half way full, but the five of us ate so much we only had a small tupperware full for leftovers.

I hope you enjoy this!

have a great day and please take care.

xoxo steph