Tex-Mex Chicken Soup Bar

I cut this recipe out of the newspaper ages ago. It's so good! And really very easy to make.

Tex-Mex Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, fresh or frozen
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 medium onions (for 1-1/2 cups chopped)
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 3 cans (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth
• 2 cans (14-1/2 oz.) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
• 1-1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1-1/2 cups black beans (1 can)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• juice of 1/2 of a lime

Toppings:
grated cheeses, sliced black olives, crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, chopped green onions, dice avocado, cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a 4-1/2 to 5 quart Dutch oven or soup pot.  Peel onions and coarsely chop them, adding them to pot as you chop.  Cut chicken into bite-size chunks, adding them to the pot as you cut.  After first breast is in the pot, raise heat to medium-high.  Continue until all chicken is added.  Add garlic.  Cook chicken, stirring from time to time, until it is no longer pink outside, about 4 minutes.
2. Add broth, tomatoes, corn, and beans.  Raise heat to high, cover and bring pot to a boil.  Uncover, reduce heat to low and add cumin and juice from lime.  Continue to simmer 5 minutes to let flavors develop.
3. While soup simmers, prepare toppings of choice.  Serve at once or remove from heat and cover until ready to serve.  Reheat as necessary.  Arrange toppings salad-bar style, or pass them around the table, and let everyone add their own.

Note: This soup is only mildly spicy.  Be sure to put out a bottle of hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco, for guest who like to breathe fire.

The original recipe didn't call for black beans, but I think there's something special about the flavors of chicken, corn, black beans, lime, and cumin (and cilantro, the toppings didn't list cilantro, either) together, and this soup didn't seem complete without them.  Also, I don't usually have Mexican-style tomatoes, so I just use a couple cans of diced tomatoes.  As with all soups, the measurements here are really just guidelines - adjust as needed or to suit your preferences.
 

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