Mexican Chicken Posole Stew

Oh wow... this soup is amazing!

My friend Chris sent me this link for a recipe from Sunset Magazine "Speedy Chicken Posole".  He knows how much I like to cook and said that his friends from San Diego were raving about it.  Once I checked it out,  I remembered seeing this in the magazine, and I'm not sure why I didn't make it.  It could be that I think that I don't like hominy.... but I do, I do, now that is!  The original recipe calls for 2 cans of hominy and no corn, but I like corn and think it adds color and texture by mixing them. 

I also would have normally used the Poblano chilies that the original recipe called for and roasted them and diced them up... but I was TIRED, and was fresh out of Poblano chilies.  I felt that the canned chilies that I had in my pantry would be fine- - and they were!

The original recipe also called for chicken thighs diced up into 1" pieces and sauteed, which is what I did.  After we sat down to this dinner, with my husband in raptures of the yumminess of it all, we talked about how easy this would be with leftover cooked chicken, or a store bought roasted chicken.  Try it, I think it will work.  If you like this recipe, you should also try my Chicken Tortilla Soup which is my all time favorite soup and many of my friends too!

Ingredients:

1 can diced mild green chilies 

1 Tbsp.  garlic cloves

1  large onion

1 jalapeno
2 Tbsp parsley, or cilantro

1  14 1/2 oz. can white hominy

1 cup corn, fresh, frozen or canned

2 cups cooked chicken

       (rotisserie chicken or chicken breasts or thighs in 1" chunks & pan sauteed)

2  teaspoons dried Mexican oregano

1 tsp salt

2  tablespoons  olive oil

4  cups chicken broth (homemade, canned or chicken bouillon)

2- 3  tablespoons mild chili powder

Juice of one lime

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Garnishes: sliced avocado, lime wedges, cilantro sprigs, and sour cream

If you are using fresh chicken, go ahead and saute the chunks in the stock pot in some olive oil until it is browned, about 5 minutes.  Do your veggies below in the same pot, after removing the chicken to a plate to add again after the veggies are cooked.

In a food processor, add the garlic, the jalapeno and the onion, cut into chunks. 

Pulse until the mixture is in rough chunks. 

Add to a stock pot over medium heat and saute in some olive oil until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add the chili powder and the oregano and stock.

Add the chicken, the chicken stock, the corn and the hominy and simmer for about 10 minutes over medium heat. 

Add the can of diced chilies and the juice of one lime, and taste and add salt as needed.
Serve topped with thin slices of avocado, more chopped cilantro and extra lime to squeeze as desired.  It is also great with a dollop of sour cream on top!

Serves about 4.

What else would this technique work on???

You could easily use this technique on any kind of leftover meat, especially shredded pork or beef. I also think you could make this with vegetable broth and firm tofu and make the Vegetarians in your life quite happy too.