Back in California, Luke and I would take daytime date-breaks from studying for our Masters (or just from life) and go to Chili’s. We loved their all-you-can-eat soup, salad, and tortilla chips. Our favorite soup was chicken lime chile. Unfortunately they stopped selling it. 😦 By that time, we were addicted to this light zesty soup.

Since then we’ve been working on our own recipe. So here is my attempt at a gluten-free crock-pot Chicken Lime Chile soup!

You will need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3/4 limes

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons or more of garlic (minced, fresh or powder)

3 teaspoons or more of salt

48 oz chicken broth

8 oz canned green chilies

2 small onions

1/2 cups brown/white rice

1 cup fresh cilantro

2/3 jalapeños

1 medium avocado

Instructions

1. Cut the chicken breasts into kebab size chunks or long strips.

2. Put ¼ cup olive oil and 2 to 3tbs lime juice (about 1/2 limes) in a medium unheated pan.

3. Add the chicken to the pan and season with 1tbs or more of garlic and ½ tsp salt.

4. Turn the stove to medium/ high heat and let the chicken pan-fry until brown. When brown, cut into the thickest piece to double check it that it is done.

5. While the chicken pan-fries, place the 48 oz container of chicken broth, 8 oz canned green chilies, and ¼ cup olive oil into the crock-pot.

6. Cut up the onion and 1 to 2 limes into quarters. Squeeze the juice from the lime(s) into the crockpot and drop the lime rind(s), onion, 1tbs garlic, and 2tps salt, into the crock-pot and turn on low.

7. Cut or tear the cooked chicken into small pieces. Add the chicken and any oil left in the pan into the crock-pot turning it to  high heat for an hour.

9. In the mean time, if you haven’t already, you can clean and chop up fresh cilantro -amount is up to you (I would suggest 1 cup)

10. After the hour on high, add 1 to 2 cups rice and the cilantro to the crock-pot and cook on low for another hour. Also taste the broth to see if you want to add more lime or remove the lime rinds so the soup does not become too acidic.

11. Next, after the hour on low, check to see if the rice has cooked (if not put the crock-pot on high for another half hour) then add a ½ cup of cut jalapenos and keep on low for another hour.  How long you keep jalapenos in will determine how spicy you soup is.( So you can add the jalapenos as late as 30 min. before serving.)

12. After this hour on low the soup should be done. You can keep it on low or keep warm until ready to serve. Just remember the longer it cooks after the jalapenos are in the spicier it will get.

13. When you are ready to serve, add freshly cut avocado, more lime juice, and fresh cilantro to taste for each bowl. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

Do you have a favorite soup or dish at a local restaurant?