Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Chicken Barley Chili Deliciousness

This doesn't have much to do with anything, but I have don't have time to say the deep and meaningful things I might if I wasn't still editing the motion that not only spent days refusing to write itself, but now refuses to go away. Very rude, those motions.

This is one of my favorite Fall and Winter recipes. Actually, it's so tasty, I'll even make it in the summer. It's easy, involves no chopping or dicing, and is fairly healthy. (I think, I'm not sure of everyone's health standards, but it's certainly not unhealthy.) (Speaking of health, I've been swimming and running and not eating cookies over the past two months. It feels nice. I don't want to write a whole post acknowledging my attempts at healthfulness because maybe then I'll stop just to prove me wrong.)


Chicken Barley Chili


1 (14.5 oz) can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz) jar Salsa
1 (14.5 oz) can Fat-free Chicken Broth
1 cup Quaker Medium Barley
4 cups Water
1 Tbl Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 (15 oz) can Black Beans, drained, rinsed
1 (15 oz) can Corn, undrained
3 cups Chicken Breast, cooked, cut up
(Optional: Tortilla Chips, Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese)

1. In a large pot, combine first 7 ingredients. Over high heat, bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add beans, corn and chicken; increase heat to high until chili comes to a boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for another 5 min.
4. If standing chili becomes too thick, add more chicken broth or water.
5. If desired, serve topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and chips.

Notes: I always use a rotisserie chicken and ALWAYS mix in a dollup of sour cream, a handful of crushed tortilla chips, and shredded cheddar cheese at the end. I can't imagine the soup without those additions. I also usually use frozen corn and more chicken broth (decreasing the water) because I have boxes of free range chicken broth from Costco and I can't open the box and not finish it off. I also usually eat it with corn bread - not because it needs cornbread or because they go well together, I'll just take any excuse to eat cornbread with butter and honey and anything with "stew" or "chili" in the title serves as sufficient reason to make some.

Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Excellent! I was just brainstorming about what to make for dinner tonight. :)

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  2. You could simplify that even more by just throwing all of the ingredients in the crockpot, turning it on low and leaving it all day. You can just put the chicken in raw and uncut; tehy will become so tender and soft that all you need to do is stir them around and they will shred... I make something similar where you take corn and black beans, and mix them with salsa and put them in the crockpot. You then put chicken breasts on top and cover in salsa and leave on low all day. Then, just make some rice to pour it over and it's delicious and SO quick and easy (and healthy).

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  3. I have passed that along to Manoj for his "approval". Wish me luck, he does not usually go for chili, but that really looks good. Anything with CUMIN is a winner by me. I probably would have to add garlic - am I the only one who cannot resist tinkering with a recipe? Ever?

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  4. I made this for the second time and this time I threw in some leftover ham from Thanksgiving instead of the chicken. Yup, still delicious. Everyone loved it. Thanks LL!

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