We tend to be a white chili family around here. You know, shredded chicken or ground turkey and some kind of white bean like cannelini or great northerns. Mostly because, let's face it, it's what I prefer and I'm the one who's generally doing the cooking. However. I like to think of myself as an accommodating person, and if requests are made, well. Sometimes I listen.

We're at a funny and interesting stage at our house. I call it Teenage Boy. Neel and I are precariously trying to balance our own portion control with Callum's need to eat constantly. I really am trying to honor the fact that he needs fuel for this growing machine and offer up healthy but satisfying and filling (especially filling) choices. Enter Mad Hungry. Have you seen this book? Neel loves the title because he says he remembers being hungry just like that when he was a boy. So hungry that you could cry from it. So hungry that you actually got mad about it.

So we made some hearty chili, and now I might make tomato based chili more.

Chili adapted from Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys

3 smoked serrano chiles

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1.5 pounds stew meat, cubed

1 tablespoon coarse salt

2 teaspoons cumin

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

1 pinch of brown sugar, if desired

1 28 oz. can petite diced tomatoes

12 oz. beer

2 15 oz cans beans (pinto, kidney, black, etc.) with liquid

Using a dry skillet and high heat, lightly toast the chilies for a few minutes. Once roasted, remove from pan and slice the chilies to remove and discard the stem and seeds. Soak the chilies in boiling water for five minutes to soften and then pureé in a food processor with enough liquid to form a thick paste.

In a deep pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat and sauté onion and garlic until translucent. Increase the heat to high, add the beef and roughly two teaspoons of the salt and brown.

Once beef has browned, add cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne, bay leaf, chili paste and remaining salt. Stir to combine, adding brown sugar to taste. Combine tomatoes and beer with beef mixture and simmer for 30 minutes. Add beans and cook an additional 20 minutes. You may need to add more water if the chili becomes too thick.

Serve with diced avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream and lime wedges.

I was never a big Chicken Noodle Soup fan growing up. We were a Campbell's condensed soup family (Come on now, it was the 70s. No judging.), so give me Chicken and Stars any day. I remember, sometime in elementary school learning a song called "Chicken Soup with Rice" and my dad bought cans of Chicken with Rice after that. I don't know, the ratios always seemed off. Too many carrots (of cooked carrots, I am also not a fan), not enough chicken, noodles too gummy and hard to eat. No, for me, Chicken Noodle Soup never completely caught on.

However. I get it. I get that there's not much more comforting that the bland, barely spiced bowl of warmth that is this soup. Something subtle and easy on the tummy. So when we were all under our rock last week it was the first thing I thought to make us. There are a gazillion ways to make Chicken Noodle Soup and get it rich and flavorful, to elevate it to an art. Was I prepared to do that? Uh. No. Heck, even now I'm still contemplating a nap at any moment. I needed something easy, comforting, nourishing, flavorful (but not too flavorful), and did I mention easy? Here's what I came up with.

Cheater's Chicken Soup

1 Whole Rotisserie Chicken

1 chopped veggie pack: carrots, onion & celery

olive oil

sherry

chicken broth

egg noodles

fresh ground pepper

Saute´the vegetables in the olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat until soft. Of course you can chop an onion, a carrot or two and a few stalks of celery, but I was looking for maximum easy so I grabbed the pre-chopped pack that our grocery store carries. While the vegetables are sauteíng, shred some of the chicken from the rotisserie chicken. I ended up using maybe a cup and a half of both white and dark meat as well as some of the skin.

Once the vegetables are soft and just beginning to brown, deglaze the pan with some of the sherry. Add the chicken and enough broth to reach the volume of soup you desire. Bring to a slow boil. Once the soup is boiling, add the noodles and cook until just tender. Taste and adjust seasonings. With the chicken and broth, it should be plenty salty, but you may want to add more sherry and some fresh ground pepper.

Serve with warm rolls to sop up the broth. And feel better!

chilly for chili {life}

baking history :: cheater chicken soup {life}