Fire up the grill and have your smoking chips ready to create this delicious recipe. These kind of recipes are ones you do slowly in pieces. If you wanted to speed up the process, you could. I just like taking my time while I cook.
Marinate some boneless chicken breasts first in a salt water brine that you will pour off after two hours. Next, you will season with Chipotle seasoning, cumin, smoked paprika and garlic salt….or your own seasoning combination.
You are going to start this recipe with a white bean like Great Northern beans. I cook mine from scratch (dry beans) but get them in cans if you don’t have time. You will add chicken broth or chicken bouillon cubes and water along with smoked paprika, cumin, garlic salt and pepper. Add cayenne if you want more heat but we will be adding peppers to achieve that. This will simmer with minced garlic, green onion, white onion and jalapeño (more or less depending on heat preference)….and I forgot to mention when I posted this, cilantro! We love cilantro!
While this is cooking, you will fire up the grill and throw some smoking chips on top. In a foil packet, add tomatillos, jalapeños and limes. Place the packet on the side of the coals under the grill top. Throw your marinated chicken breasts on top turning pretty quickly. You want them cooked but not dry. They can finish cooking in the soup. When the chicken is ready, bring in the foil packet goodies too.
Puree about a cup or so of your beans in a blender letting them cool a bit first because they can build pressure from the heat and you can get burned or make a mess. (Ask me how I know.) 😉 Add back to the pot as a thickener.
You could shred the chicken but this time, I cut it into cubes. You will next purée the tomatillos and jalapeños and squeeze the lime juice in this mix. Let all of this cool for a few minutes or again, you will get burned.
Add to your pot and simmer on low until you are ready to eat. Garnish with cream cheese if you want it creamy. Add Tilamook Mexican Blend Cheese, cold avocado pieces and whole or crushed tortilla chips. You could also do sour cream or other toppings. Enjoy!