GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Ingredients
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced (or sub 1 tablespoon granulated garlic)
1 cup carrots, small dice
1 cup celery, small dice
1 poblano pepper, small dice
2 (14.5 ounce can) petite diced tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)
2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs left whole (for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, see notes)
1 cup dry black beans (or sub 1-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed)
4 cups chicken stock or broth (or 4 cups water with 4 bouillon cubes)
2 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Juice from 1-2 limes
2 cups frozen or canned (drained) corn
Garnish with any of the following: cooked rice, tortilla strips, grated cheese, sour cream or plain yogurt, sliced avocado, hot sauce, fresh cilantro, fresh jalapeño or diced green onions.
Instructions
1. Set the Instant pot to the sauté function. Sauté onion and garlic (if using granulated garlic, add later with the spices) in the oil for 3-4 minutes then add the carrots, celery and poblano pepper to the InstantPot and stir.
2. Add the canned diced tomatoes, chicken thighs (whole), black beans, chicken stock, water, salt and all the spices.
3. Stir ingredients and set the InstantPot to pressure cook on high. If using dry black beans, pressure cook 25 minutes. If using canned black beans, high pressure cook (Soup Setting) for 18 minutes.
4. When InstantPot is finished cooking, manually let pressure out or allow InstantPot to reduce pressure on its own.
5. Remove chicken from InstantPot and allow meat to cool. Once cooled, shred chicken with two forks and return meat to the soup.
6. Place InstantPot on Sauté setting, add frozen corn and stir.
7. Squeeze with a generous amount of fresh lime juice and taste for salt, adding more if necessary- if you used dry beans, you will need to add more salt. You want a good balance between lime and salt.
Serve soup in a bowl and garnish with tortilla strips, cheese, fresh cilantro, fresh diced onions or jalapeños . Add hot sauce for added heat.
Notes
If using whole breasts, cook 9-12 minutes, and do not use dry beans. 9 minutes for smaller breasts or 12 for large.
For the tastiest tortilla chips, spray strips of fresh tortillas with olive oil spray and a sprinkle of salt, and bake in a 300 F oven until crisp (about 7-10 minutes).
If you like this recipe, join Chef Char in an upcoming cooking class at Kitchen242 in the Muskegon Farmers Market. Char offers InstantPot classes plus several other interesting culinary topics. Seating is limited in classes and tickets may be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/d/mi--muskegon/chef-char/
Follow Chef Char on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chefcharmorse for the latest class listings and recipes.