You have to make my newest crockpot invention – its healthy, tasty and versatile!  Oh, and super easy too.

Word on the street is that Chili’s has some Green Chili Lime Soup that’s all the rage.   Amongst my friends this recipe for a DIY healthy knock-off of the Chili’s soup has been passed around a lot lately, and its been getting rave reviews.   So, I decided I wanted to harness the flavors of this chili lime craze, but in a thicker way.  A non-soup way, if you will.

So I concocted a dish that’s the consistency of chili.  It works well alone, served over rice, eaten as a dip with chips.  You decide!

I didn’t calculate the nutritional info for this.  But if you think about the ingredients used – its low cal, low fat, and high in protein. Depending on how you jazz it up, the carbs could go either way.

Ingredients:

• chicken boobies (i used 2)
• chicken broth
• EVOO
• Worcestershire sauce
• splash of orange juice
• fresh limes – i think i went through 3 or 4
• fresh cilantro
• 2 cans of chopped green chilis
• 5 cans of beans – i did 2 cans kidney, 2 cans lima and 1 can butter beans.
• 1 bell pepper (you could do 2, honestly)
• garlic – minced and/or powder
• flour, optional
• heat – if you like hot sauce, you may want to incorporate that.  i did not use any during the cooking

Step One: Cook the Chicken

I put the chicken in the crock pot, set it to low.  I added just enough broth to cover the breasts.  I squeezed the juice of half a lime in there, and I added one can of green chilis.  I also splashed some Worcestershire sauce, OJ, and EVOO in there.  I gave it a little salt and pepper sprinkle and sprinkled some garlic in there as well.

Once the chicken was fully cooked, I removed it and shredded it.   I do cut off any remaining fat and get rid of that during the shredding process, fyi.

Step Two: Put it All Together

So I threw the shredded chicken right back into the crock pot; I kept all the flavorful awesome juices in there.  I added another splash of the broth.  I added the juice of the half lime I already had out, and added another.  I dumped all five cans of beans in there too (drained! I drained all of the beans before I added them).

I chopped up a yellow bell pepper and added this into the mix now too.

Then I ripped up some cilantro and put that in there as well.

I let this mixture just meld and simmer for a little bit.  I wanted the pepper to get kinda soft, and I just wanted the liquid to cook off and things thicken up.  Maybe it was an hour?  Not too sure.

When I was ready to try it. it was kind of thin, so I actually added a heaping tablespoon of flour.   Once pulled off the heat, it thickened significantly.

I just want to reiterate that I didn’t add so much broth that it was soupy, not at all.  I used just enough broth to keep things from turning to paste.

Step Three: Serving

Adding fresh lime juice and more fresh cilantro right before serving is clutch.  Everyt ime I ate or served this, I would put in fistfuls of cilantro.  (I can’t get enough of it though, its one of my favorite flavors for sure).

1. I ate this meal just on its own, scooped right out of the crock pot.  It was like a stew, or a chili.  I liked it plain.  I added a little hot sauce at one point, and it was awesome.

2.  When I went to re-heat some, I added cheddar cheese and then served it over Spanish rice.  THIS WAS THE BOMB.  This also slaughters the healthy factor, but hey – tasty is tasty.

3.  I served it like a dip – with tortilla chips, crackers, and even some crisp bread.

So, its pretty versatile and can be used in a number of ways.   If I had any more leftover, I’ try adding cheese and some sour cream to it, and using it like a dip.   That sounds delicious!

ENJOY!!! And if you make any modifications, let me know.  I know I’ll be doing this, or something similar, again and again!