Mexican Black Bean Chicken and Rice Soup

Today is opening day of Little League here in our small town. This morning began the festivities with a ceremony introducing all of the teams, the National Anthem and a prayer. Then Jude's team (the Durham Bulls) played right after lunch. It's been a cloudy, windy cold day. Since this morning, I've not been able to get my body warmed up. My solution: make a big batch of belly warming soup. 

               (Jude on opening day before the wind kicked in)

           (Jude and his team at the opening ceremony) 

If you know me any at all, you know that I love to use my crockpot and I also like to use items I have handy in my kitchen to create my own concoctions based usually of old recipe favorites. I also love Mexican flavors and decided to create my own Mexican chicken and rice soup incorporating corn and black beans. It has great tortilla soup flavors with some extras added in.  I've gotten to where I use black beans in so many recipes. I actually doubled the amount of black beans in this recipe. You can cut back to one can. Also I used brown and wild rice for this soup, which is better for you than regular white rice. You can do either or. It's up to you as to which you prefer. Also, I added two cups of rice to this recipe, but you can used one. Two thickens it up a bit, which I like.

This is one again other tasty, flavorfully healthy soup packed with protein for you and you family to enjoy, particularly on a chilly day. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Be sure to let me know if you make it, how it turned out and other feedback in the comments. And as always, please subscribe! Thanks friends!

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts (sliced into large chunks) 

3 cans of low sodium chicken broth

2 15 oz cans of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can sweet corn

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 onion (diced)

1 can Mexican lime and cilantro Rotel

1 can regular Rotel

1 teaspoon cumin

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups instant brown and wild rice 

Shredded Mexican blend cheese to top

Begin by combining and mixing everything to the crockpot besides the rice and cheese. Use 3/4 of the broth and add more as needed, particularly once you add in the rice. Cover and cook for 4-6 hours. The longer it cooks, the more tender the chicken will be. Once the chicken is cooked through, use forks and shred the chicken even more. When it has an hour left to cook, add in the rice. When it's done, serve sprinkled with shredded cheese and/or tortilla strips.