Britomart's Chicken & Black Bean Soup

Disclaimer: after spending hours on Epicurious reading various soup recipes, consulting with friends & talking with my mother, I threw this together. While "inspired" by a number of recipes, I didn't use one, and all measurements are approximate (the amounts for the chicken & the broth are the closest to true accuracy). I'm pretty good at guesstimating/eyeballing amounts, though, so if you follow this closely, you should get the same soup.

I'll disclaim a little further (and fully aware of how conceited I'm being) and say that I'm ridiculously pleased with how this turned out. And I fed it to a very picky friend tonight & she had seconds - an unusually gluttonous move for her. This recipe is also rather ludicrously healthy given how yummy it is. If you want to indulge, I recommend flash frying tortilla strips in vegetable oil until crisp & dusting with salt & cumin. Then serve them on top of the soup. Other yummy, but unhealthy additions might be some shredded cheese or a dollop of sour cream. I'm just thinking of these extras now & should stress that I found this wonderfully delicious in its described, perfectly healthy state.

I should stop babbling now, right?

• 1½ pounds chicken breasts - no skin, bones removed, sliced into smallish strips
• 1-2 cups black beans (dried black beans, boiled for 5 minutes, soaked for an hour - canned would be lovely, too, I’m sure, but I did like the firmer texture of these happy dehydrated ones - the measurement is post-plumping, not the dried state)
• 4-5 cups chicken broth (I started with about 4, then added a cup more to make it more brothy)
• 1 TBSP of butter
• 3 stalks celery, chopped very finely
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped super-duper finely
• A dozen scallions/green onions, or equivalent amount of onions chopped (say it with me) finely (It’s soup, exact amounts of onions isn’t too big of a deal)
• 2 hot yellow banana peppers diced very finely (or, if you’ve a higher hot tolerance than I do, jalapenos, or a habanero or two…)
• Couple cups of sweet corn (frozen will be simply divine if you don’t want the bother)
• 1 package grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (the individual tomatoes, not the package - heh - a can or so of diced tomatoes would probably be swell, too)
  
• Lots of finely chopped cilantro - probably about ½ a cup
• Juice of two limes
• 1 TBSP of cumin*
• 1 TBSP of chili powder*
• 1 TSP of cayenne powder* (I’m guessing on these amounts, just added a bunch and tasted as I went, but I think this is within the realm of accurate)
• Salt & pepper to taste

In a large saucepot (don’t make the mistake I did & start with too small a pot & then have to do an annoying, messy transfer half-way through), bring broth & chicken bits to a boil - boil for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, melt butter & add celery, garlic, onions & hot peppers. Sautee until it’s all soft & a bit translucent, but not brown. Turn off heat & put aside.

Once chicken is done boiling, remove chicken with slotted spoon onto a plate or bowl or chopping board, or whatever floats your boat. Take some time until the chicken is cool enough to touch/handle - go post something amusing in the Hizzy.

Return to your cooled chicken, and shred it with your fingers. It’s kind of fun! Put the shredded chicken into the broth. Add the stuff you just sautéed, and everything else listed in the ingredients.

Let soup simmer with gentle bubbles for about an hour. Taste occasionally & add additional spices as your palate sees fit.