Chicken Chili with White Beans

This is another recipe that I've adapted from Hannah Freese, RD.  I am still following her Freese Method eating plan and am totally off of sugar now and have lost five pounds.  I'm in week 4 and if you follow her plan, you slowly start losing your craving for sugar and in addition, I now don't even feel that hungry.  I definitely feel more energized and my mind feels a lot more sharp.  For example, when talking with somebody and they can't think of the name of a person or place, I immediately know what they are talking about and I blurt out the name.  Usually, I'm the one who can't think of the right word or name of something.  I've had "brain fog" before when I had thyroid problems so I know what it's like to not be able to think of the right word or a person's name or a place.  Right now, I have the opposite of "brain fog", if there is such a  condition.  I want to say "hyper".  I think it's just because I have a lot of energy right now.  I have a total of 12 weeks to go on this eating plan and I'm really enjoying it.  I love all the recipes so it's not hard to follow.  This recipe tastes like a tortilla soup and Bruce and I loved it.   Normally,  you would break up tortilla chips on top of this but part of this eating plan is to avoid all white carbs so I put avocados on top instead.  (Tortilla chips are actually yellow, but close enough.)  White carbs are not allowed while your metabolism repairs itself in the first 12 weeks which is why the program is called the Freese Method Metabolic Repair Plan.  Once your metabolism is repaired, then you can eat whatever you want 20% of the time, but she recommends following her eating recommendations 80% of the time.  It all makes sense to me and I don't think it will be that hard to do especially if I keep feeling this great. We are eating a lot of soups right now since the weather has changed to fall.   If you feel like a tortilla-type of soup, you might want to try this one.  And it's good nutrition for your metabolism, too.

Serves 4

1 pound chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)

2 tsp. olive oil 

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

4 cups chicken broth (divided)

2 cans white navy beans, rinsed (divided)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. cumin

4 tsp. chili powder

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, chopped

optional:

sliced lime wedges

sliced avocado

1.  Cook chicken ahead of time using a large pot with a lid that you will also use to make the chili in.  You'll want to use the pan drippings from the chicken in the chili.  I like to braise the chicken on medium-low heat with a little water in the pan.  Cook very slowly so lots of meat juice is formed.  Remove meat from the pan to cool. 

2.  Heat oil in the pan along with the pan drippings over medium-high heat and add onion, jalapeño and bell pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until onion is soft and translucent.  

4.  While the vegetables are cooking, add half of the broth and half of the beans to a food processor or blender and blend to puree the beans.

4.  Shred the cooled chicken with two forks.  

5.  Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, and salt to the pot of cooked vegetables.  Cook for another minute until fragrant.  

6.  Add the remaining broth, the remaining beans, the pureed beans, the shredded chicken, frozen corn and cilantro to pot.  Stir to combine and season with additional salt, if needed.  

6.  Allow chili to cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.  Divide chili into bowls and serve with a lime wedge or avocado, if desired.