White Chicken Chili

While most of my peers have spent their adolescent lives texting their parents, my parents never had texting.  And while that saved me getting the constant “check in text” from my parents, at times, I wished I could have texted my parents simple questions such as “Do I claim a 1 or a 0 on my W4 form?”  Had my parents had texting ability to answer these short questions for me, many disasters could have been avoided, like last year when I ended up owing $300 dollars because I claimed “1” instead of “0.”    Needless to say, when my parents got texting last week, I was ecstatic.   And their texting abilities came in handy, especially because I knew there was no room for failure when making this recipe. 

After a long debate with my roommate and my mom, I decided to make White Chicken Chili as my debut recipe.  For the first time in my newly sprouted adult life, I was cooking for a group of people, and I did not want to ruin my own coming out party.

At Wal-mart, however, I realized I didn’t know what butter beans and great northern beans were.  I stood dumbly in the bean aisle, desperately searching for ingredients that the small, selective Wyoming Wal-mart might not carry.  I knew it was too late to call my mom, it was well past 10pm in Wisconsin.  But then I realized I could text her to see if she was awake.  I sent a quick text, and moments later the slight humming of my phone alerted me to my mom’s message, which read, “I don’t know. Google it.” Impressed that my mom was still up and had such a rapid response, I really didn’t care that she didn’t know.  After some more searching, I finally found them on the top shelf, hiding from their 5’ 2’’ buyers.    

After the brief Wal-mart incident, the chili making went off without a problem.  I didn’t even cry much when I cut the onions.  I did go a little over board on the cumin—but it’s hard to be lenient when using your favorite spice, and it did give the chili a “nice kick,” as girls described it when the ate it the following evening.    

Finally, I have decided that I am going to be rating each dish because I do not have the vocabulary or food expertise to accurately describe what I cook.

Time Commitment: 30 minutes (experienced) 1 hour (me)

Overall Taste: 6 on a scale of 1 (horrible) to 10 (great)

Presentation: 2 on a scale of 1 (horrible) to 10 (great).  This chili had a funny yellow color….

Difficulty: 3 on a scale of 1 (easy) to 10 (difficult)

Ingredients:

1.       1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2.       2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)

3.       2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4.       3 cups chicken broth

5.       2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

6.       2 tablespoons lime juice

7.       1 teaspoon ground cumin

8.       ½ teaspoon dried oregano

9.       ¼ teaspoon red pepper sauce

10.   ¼ teaspoon salt

11.   1 can (15oz) great northern beans

12.   1 can (11oz) white shoepeg corn

13.   1 can (15 oz) butter beans

14.   2 cups cooked chicken breast

Directions

1.       In 4-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Cook onions and garlic in oil 4-6 minutes until tender.

2.       Stir in remaining ingredients except chicken.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes. Stir in chicken; simmer about 5 minutes.