Sunny Cilantro Chicken Chili

Every early fall I become obsessed with making chili. The crisp fall smell coming in over the musty hot summer smells just makes me want something spicy. So why am I talking about chili on a lovely spring day? Well, because it's kinda cold and cloudy out and I'm bored of soup. I want to turn up the heat, maybe mother nature will catch on. Someday I'll post my favorite rainy day, eat-with-a-chunk-of-crusty-bread-instead-of-a-spoon potato bean soup (and I'll need to come up with a shorter name for it), but not today. I need something a little more vibrant, something sunny.

Luckily, I have just the right ingredient for the job - cilantro. I finally got into the garden last week and was able to transplant my seedlings to my outdoor pots. I'm surprised I've even gotten anything to stay alive indoors this year, as my house hasn't gotten much sunlight. 

It's really wonderful towards the end of the summer season, because then I make use of the plethora of tomatoes I have. Between my own raised bed garden, which ended up being overgrown by tomato plants (over half the garden was just a thick jungle of tomatoes, my oldest daughter was in heaven - tomatoes are one her favorite foods) and the tomatoes we got through our CSA, it was a bit out of control. We also had a lot of carrots and celery from our CSA, and with chicken chili it is really a great addition.

Last year, I also received a bounty of peppers from a friend, which really inspired my chili kick. I especially loved the peppers with all of the variations of chicken chili I made. But, again - this year has been cold and the veggies just went in last week. Hopefully it is warm enough and the rain will really help. We're just behind from last year. And to be fair, last year everything went in pretty early - around Andy's birthday mid-April. We were definitely spoiled! 

So, on a not so sunny day, I give you...

Sunny Chicken Chili

You Will Need:

• Dutch Oven or Slow Cooker 
• Cutting Board
• Large Chopping Knife
• Can Opener
• Small Strainer
• 1 Cup Measuring Cup
• 1/4 Cup Measuring Cup
• 1/2 Cup Measuring Cup
• 1 Teaspoon
• 1 Tablespoon
• Frying Pan
• Metal or Wood Spatula

Ingredients:

• 1 Onion (I wouldn't recommend red onions, but if that's what you got, it really is all good)
• 3 Tomatoes
• 1 Stalk Celery (if you like celery or have a bunch to use up - use up to 3 stalks celery)
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Can Great Northern Beans (if they are dry, you have to prepare them as directed rinsing the night before, I think canned are fine)
• 1 Can Navy Beans (see above)
• 2 Cups Chicken Stock
• 1/2 Cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce (this is not tabasco sauce! If you only have tabasco sauce, add amount indicated in the secret ingredient section)
• 1/4 Cup White Vinegar 
• 1 Handful Cilantro + some for garnish
• 1 Small Lime or 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Secret Ingredients:

• 1 Pepper of choice (I like red peppers with this one)
• Cayenne Pepper (I use this almost in substitution of chili powder, taste as you go, up to 2 tablespoons)
• Paprika (I love paprika, some don't think it makes much difference, go with what you like, up to 1 tablespoon)
• Oregano (1/2 teaspoon, again, go with your gut :)
• Cumin (up to 2 tablespoons, I personally would only do about 1/4 teaspoon)
• Garlic (again, to taste - I'd say a couple tablespoons of minced garlic or 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
• Tabasco (a few shakes - don't get too out of hand, take it slow :)
• Red Pepper Flakes (this is for a slow kind of spicy, if you like a bit more depth in your heat, about 1/2 tablespoon)
• Honey (sounds odd, but when I make my special buffalo wing sauce, this is the key ingredient, just drizzle will do ya!)
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce (another odd one out, but trust me - you will be using it whenever you do chicken in a frying pan, it just flavors the chicken while keeping it moist, and no Asian flavors - just yummy salty goodness)

Directions:

1. Chop veggies: tomatoes, carrots, celery and onion - leaving half the onion to the side and cilantro
2. Add 2 cups chicken stock to slow cooker or dutch oven, turn on low or medium low on stovetop if using dutch oven
3. If using canned beans, drain and rinse beans (if you don't want to be bothered, skip draining)
4. Add chopped veggies (leaving out half the onion) and beans to slow cooker or dutch oven
5. Add hot sauce, vinegar and lime juice
6. If worried about spiciness, taste and add half of desired spices, you can always add more later, if using red pepper flakes, add now
7. Drizzle honey and stir thoroughly
8. Chop chicken breasts in chunks to aid in cooking and shredding
9. Heat frying pan on medium until warm, add olive oil, once hot enough (try flicking water at the pan, it should sizzle and pop back at ya) add chicken and cook 5 minutes
10. After 5 minutes of chicken cooking, add remaining onion and the garlic
11. After the onions and garlic start to sweat add soy sauce and cook chicken thoroughly
12. Shred chicken in pan (I usually use a metal spatula and just start hacking at it, it's not as hectic as it sounds, lol)
13. Add chicken, onion and garlic to slow cooker or dutch oven, cover and wait 4-6 hours
14. Taste, add more spices if wanted. If it's not thick enough combine equal parts flour and cold water (2 tablespoons each) and shake in jar and add to pot
15. Garnish with cilantro, lime and sour cream

It's hard typing out what you do in the kitchen, especially because everything I make is really go with flow, no way you can really mess up. I know it can be daunting, but if you can find a good base to work from you'll be able to navigate it based on your own preferences. If it ends up too spicy, add 1/4 cup water at a time and thicken with the flour/water mixture to even it out. 

Oh, and if you ask reeeaaallly nicely, I'll post my favorite cornbread recipe next as a bonus post - I'll even leave out *most* of the jabbering :)