White Bean and Chicken Chili

This is a recipe I got from the bon appetit October 2008 issue. It is a recipe that a reader wrote in to get, after having the dish at JW-s Food & Spirits in Grand Haven Michigan. I had some canned chicken that my mom made, and had been looking for a dish to use it in. Plus, I was hoping by making chili I could temp the weather gods into finally giving us some cool weather! It worked, last night was pretty chilly... pun intended. Anyway! On with the show...

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapeno from a jar (I used fresh. I always have fresh ones on hand)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 15 ounce cans of Great Northern Beans, drained
1 pound cooked chicken breast, chopped
1/2 cup of half and half
Time to start chopping. I actually enjoy chopping veggies, I find it soothing.

Celery and onion done.

Chop the pepper

Done

I chopped the jalapeno on a seperate cutting board. Of course you already know this, but wash your hands after handling jalapenos! I once forgot to do so, and wiped my hand across my upper lip. Yeah, for about 3 days I looked like I had experienced a horrible lip waxing accident. Not pretty. And the pain! Oy, not something I want to experience again that's for sure.

Then get to work on the garlic. I used really large cloves. Garlic makes everything better.

Here is a line up of the other ingredients. Including the chicken my mom canned. She had warned me that it would be delicious, but wow. This chicken was absolutely phenomenal! I could really eat it right out of the jar. I will definitely be buying a whole bunch and bringing them to her house so we can can some more! That gives me an idea, I'll document the whole process and post it here... Now, back to the task at hand.

While I was chopping, I had the oil heating in a large saucepan, over medium high heat.

I then add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and jalapeno. I cooked them until they started to soften, about 4-5 minutes.

At which point I added the chili powder (cayenne), garlic, and cumin. Cook that for 1-2 minutes.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, until veggies are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the beans,

Chicken,

and half and half.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until heated through. This only takes a few minutes. Make sure to season with salt and pepper as needed.

I garnished ours with a sprinkle of fat free shredded cheese, and some toasty bread. This dish was so simple to make, and was a huge hit. Mr. See Marie Cook had three bowls! Then laid around moaning about how stuffed he was. I would definitely recommend this dish. You could easily leave the jalapeno out if you are serving people who don't care for much spice.

Enjoy!