Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Slow Cooker Flu-Fighting Chicken Enchilada Soup


As I mentioned in the last couple of blog posts (that I struggled to produce), I was down with the flu for a couple of weeks. Every morning as I lie in bed unable to right myself, I cursed the ineffectiveness of flu shots. I get a flu shot every year; the last two years I've also gotten the flu. What’s with that?

I’ve gotten wiser over the past couple of years, namely when I feel a sore throat coming on (always a flu precursor), I know what’s ahead, and spring into action making a big pot of soup in the crockpot. Boy, was I glad that I did, because I ate this soup five days in a row. It was a struggle to eat at all, but I knew the importance of this, and, day after day when I could barely put one foot in front of the other I was so glad that I had this waiting for me in the fridge.
It improves with age, it seemed to anyway, but who am I to judge, really? My sense of taste was shot after a while.

This is easy to put together, essentially you just throw everything into the crockpot. I'd like to say that it makes the house smell spicy, warm, and wonderful, but having had absolutely no sense of smell you can’t prove it by me. There's a lot of good stuff in this soup, with the chicken, the tomatoes (that I seemed to crave), chicken stock, and warm spices. One day, when I was feeling particularly ambitious, I served the soup over a scoop of rice, and it made a very hearty and satisfying meal. When you're down with a cold or the flu, all you want is comfort, and this is comfort in a bowl.

Slow Cooker Flu-Fighting Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 16-oz. can kidney beans, drained
1 15.5-oz. can black beans, drained
1 15-oz. can creamed corn corn
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 T. chili powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. dried cilantro

Mix all ingredients together in slow cooker. Cook on low for 5 hours. At the end of the cooking time, remove the chicken from the crock pot, shred and return to the pot. Serve topped with a squeeze of lime juice, and garnish as you see fit. For a heartier meal, serve atop a scoop of rice.

3 comments:

sandy said...

sounds great. hope u are feeling better.

Rustown Mom said...

Looks wonderful - feel better soon!

Miz Helen said...

Oh my goodness Pattie, I know just how you feel. I got it on December 17th and am just now getting back to a half way normal day, it has been a real struggle to keep the cooking and the blog going, this flu has been really rough. Your soup looks like it would sure make me feel better anytime, it looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great day and come back soon!
Miz Helen