Green Chicken Chili

I love how light and flavorful this chili is...and so do my kids! Apparently, it is: "the best chili in the whole world."

Watch as they evaluate the spice-level, ingredients, and green-ness of one of our regular weeknight dinners. The ending completely summarizes what it's like to cook for kids.

The original recipe came from an America's Test Kitchen cookbook that I bought at a garage sale for $0.50. I'm always excited when I get a recipe we can add to our regular rotation; even better when it's $0.50! 

I modified the original recipe slightly to make it more family-friendly (i.e. easier and less spicy). There's a lot of veggies, but I use the food processor to do all the heavy-lifting and reduce the time spent chopping.

You'll need:
1.5 lbs chicken breasts (boneless/skinless)
1 Tb vegetable oil
1 large jalepeño or 2 small, minced
3 medium poblano peppers (seeds & stem removed) 
3 medium Anaheim peppers (seeds & stem removed) 
2 medium onions
6 cloves garlic, minced (2 Tb)
1 Tb ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 cans of 15-oz cannelloni beans (~30-oz total)
3 cups chicken broth 
3 Tb lime juice
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In large dutch oven, heat oil and brown chicken until each side is golden brown (around 2 minutes per side). Transfer browned chicken to a plate.

2. Mince the jalepeño. Peel onions and remove ribs, seeds and stems from peppers. Chop them into 2-inch chunks. Put half veggies in a food processor and pulse until they are the consistency of chunky salsa. Do the same for the 2nd half. Don't wash the food processor because you'll use it again in step 4.

3. In pot that the chicken was browned, add the peppers/onion mixture and cook over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies soften (about 10 minutes).

4. Add in the chicken broth. In the food processor, blend 1 can of beans and around 2 cups of cooked veggie/broth mixture until smooth. Add mixture back into the pot.

5. Nestle the browned chicken in the liquid. Cover pot, and heat over medium-low until chicken is cooked through (registers temp of 160° F). 

6. Remove cooked chicken and allow it to cool. Use two forks to shred the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces.

7. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot; along with the other can of beans, 1/4 cup minced cilantro and 3 Tb lime juice. 

8. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, tortilla chips and avocado! 

Serves 5 people
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 30 minutes