Chicken Salsa Soup

Cold weather is upon us! Fall is here, but that air has a decidedly Winter bite to it. I was inspired by some soup recipes I found on Pinterest this week, and decided to stock up my freezer with some lunches for my husband. As you can see from the half-empty crock, I had to work fast on getting it into the freezer, because everyone was eating it!

I started out following someone else's recipe, but by the time I finished, it in no way resembled the original, so I'm giving it it's own name. The soup doesn't actually call for salsa, but it gets kind of a salsa vibe since you're using a lot of the same ingredients.

Leni Notes:

~This recipe filled an 8 qt. crock pot, we got 12 good-sized servings out of this.

~A nice crusty bread or grilled garlic bread would be a nice accompaniment. 

Ingredients:

6 Cups water

4 raw chicken breasts

2 (30 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (30 oz) can black beans

1 Cup tomato paste

1 (4 oz) can diced jalapeños 

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 large onion, diced

6 tsp Chicken Better than Bouillon base or 6 chicken bouillon cubes

4 tsp chopped garlic (equivalent of 8 cloves) 

4 tsp cumin

4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne powder

8 oz. Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

~Place all ingredients in crock, except for the cheese.

~Cook on low for 8 hours.

~Pull chicken out, and place on plate. 

~The chicken will shred very easily, shred and place back into crock.

~Sprinkle cheese over the top and mix in.