Green Chile Chowder with Black Beans

This soup was like no other soup that I have ever  had before. I have to be honest, when I first saw the recipe, I wasn't so sure about how it would turn out, but the recipe comes from a blog that I have made many successful recipes from, so I decided to give it a try. The weather here in Maryland has been so cold for so long and this soup was just what Greg and I needed in the last week of February to warm ourselves (and our spirits) up. The soup was pretty easy to make (especially because I got Greg to chop the potatoes while I did some other prep work), and it made enough soup to eat for almost the entire week. This green chile chowder soup is comforting, filling, a bit spicy, and hearty. You only need a little bit of it to fill you up, especially if you add the toppings to it. You can choose to make the soup as smooth or chunky as you like. I pureed most of the soup but left some chunks of potato, much to the satisfaction of Greg, who prefers a chunkier soup. You can top it with sour cream, cheese, avocado, and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Recipe for Green Chile Chowder with Black Beans

INGREDIENTS:
 4 Poblano peppers
1 Tbsp. of unsalted butter
1 small to medium yellow onion, chopped
1 - 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (I like spicy, so I threw some of the seeds in)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp. of cumin powder
3/4 tsp. of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into equal-sized cubes
4 cups of chicken broth or vegetable broth*
2 cups of whole milk
1/3 cup of chopped cilantro
Juice of 1lime
2 15-ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup of heavy cream

*Make this meal vegetarian by using the vegetable broth. 

DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oven broiler to high. Place the poblano peppers on a baking pan and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes, or until one side is blackened. Then use tongs to flip the peppers over and place back into the oven until the entire skin of the peppers are blackened. Use the tongs to remove the peppers from the pan, put into a bowl, and cover. Let them sit for about 15 to 20 minutes.

While the peppers are cooling, cut the onion and jalapenos and peel and chop the potatoes, if you haven't already. Then put the butter into a large stockpot or Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Once the butter melts, add in the onion and jalapeno and saute until softened and they start to brown, about 7 minutes. Then add in the pressed garlic, cumin powder, salt, and several grinds of black pepper. Cook for about 1 minutes, then add the potatoes to the pot and pour in the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot so it is slightly cracked and cook until the potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes). Then remove from heat.

Now the roasted poblano peppers should be cool enough to handle. Peel away its skin and remove its stems and seeds. Throw away the skin, stems, and seeds. Roughly chop the roasted peppers and put into the soup. Add in the milk and cilantro to the soup, too. Then use an immersion blender to puree until the soup is almost smooth, leaving some chunks of potato if desired. Add in the lime juice, black beans, and cream.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with your favorite toppings. I used chopped avocado, grated cheddar cheese, Greek yogurt, and lightly toasted tortilla chips.

Recipe makes approximately 8 servings.

Recipe Adapted from: Annie's Eats, which was adapted from Cook Like a Champion and originally from Homesick Texan