This is delicious! Even my diehard traditional (red) chili loving men loved this. My shortcuts are in ( ).
White Chili
2 1/2 to 3 pounds chicken breasts about 3 whole breasts (1 large rotiserrie chicken, cut up or shred)
6 cups chicken broth, homemade, canned (boxed)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped, about 2 C
8 large garlic cloves, chopped or crushed
3 or 4 red or green 3 inch chilies finely chopped (canned chopped green chilies)
1 T ground cumin
1 T died oregano preferable Mexican
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 pound small white beans, great northern, navy or other, covered and soaked overnight. (minimum of 2 cans any white beans)
Coarse sea salt
Tabasco or other bottled hot sauce
3 to 4 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
Sour cream
Tomato salsa (deli fire roasted salsa)
Lime wedges (lime juice)
In a 5 to 6 quart pot cook the chicken in the broth. remove the chicken from the broth and cube or shred. Reserve broth in another container. Using the same pot, warm the olive oil and saute the onion until almost borown and add the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds or so.
Add the chilies, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, beans and reserved broth. If using dried beans, simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours til beans are tender (canned beans? - continue to next step)
Stir in the chicken and simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference with salt and hot sauce.
Just before serving stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
Serve in deep or flat bowls with side dishes of grated cheese, sour cream, salsa, and lime. (We also like white corn tortilla chips with this)
Serves 6 to 8 (3 to 4 of my men)
Before adding the cheese this can be refridgerated for several days (not in my house) or frozen for up to 6 months.
