Tex-Mex Chicken Soup: light on calories, but heavy on taste!

I was at the grocery store with my husband the other day, and the new issue of "cooking light" was displayed at the check-out line. It had the most amazing looking grilled veggie pizza on the cover, and I have been dying to find a good veggie pizza recipe, so I thought why not? And bought it. Boy, let me tell you I am glad I did because it had a recipe in it for a light tex-mex chicken soup that turned out so hearty, and flavorful I ate 3 bowls of it in the last two days!

I absolutely loved this soup because not only was it super easy to make, it had real great, fresh ingredients and real rich flavored spices to make it a filling, spicy, soup. And, with the different textures from the chicken, and the crunch of the corn, and the bite of the jalapeno-it really turned out amazing. First things first! Ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (fresh or frozen-doesn't matter!)
3 garlic cloves-minced
1 bell pepper-chopped
1 jalapeno-seeded and minced
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (you can get them at the grocery store for like $5)
2 cups corn (fresh or frozen-canned has high salt content)
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 large tomatoes-chopped
1 can-no salt added-black beans (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (optional)

My husband used to work in a Mexican restaurant, and when they closed he brought home all the dried peppers, chilis, and spices-so I already had all of these things on hand. The upside of buying these spices is that, guaranteed you will use them over and over again!  First I did all my prep so that the oil didn't burn in the stockpot before I could get the onion in there. I chopped the onions, garlic, jalapeno, and pepper and mixed them up in one big pile. Next, I heated the oil in a big 'ol stock pot over medium high heat, and added my big pile of veggies. Saute for about 3-5 minutes. Next, add the chili powder, crushed red pepper, salt, cumin, and pepper and saute for about 30 seconds-1 minute. Add the shredded chicken, corn, chicken broth, tomatoes, and beans; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 6 minutes or so. Top with fresh cilantro if you choose. There you have it! A healthy, filling soup. Each serving (1 cup) clocks in at:

186 calories
5.4g of fat
18g of protein
18.4g of carbs
4g of fiber
67mg of calcium
571mg of sodium-It sounds high, but you saved about 500mg using low sodium ingredients! 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have another bowl waiting for me...

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