Yucatan-Style Chicken, Lime & Rice Soup

When my husband and I were first married, we lived in Southern New Mexico. Since I'm from Northern Wisconsin, I had really never experienced "real" Mexican food. I learned to love Mexican food while we lived in New Mexico, and got to the point that if it didn't make me "cry", it wasn't hot enough. I don't eat food quite that hot anymore, but I still love Mexican food.

This soup sounded good when I found the recipe, and it exceeded my expectations. I found it on http://www.epicurious.com/, and it comes from Bon Appetite, March 2004. As always, I made some alterations to the recipe. The original recipe had 1/2 cup Orzo (rice shaped pasta) instead of rice. Since I had some leftover rice, I decided to use it.

Yucatan-Style Chicken, Lime and Rice Soup

Start to Finish time: 30 minutes

1 1/2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Medium Onion, thinly sliced

6 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced

2 Jalapeno Chile Peppers, thinly sliced

3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced

5 Cups Low-Sodium, Fat Free Chicken Broth

1/4 Cup Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

1 Large Tomato, seeded and chopped

1 Cup Cooked White or Brown Rice

1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped

Fresh Cilantro Sprigs

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and chilies. Saute until onion begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Add chicken; saute 1 minute. Add broth, lime juice and tomato. simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Mix in the rice, then chopped cilantro. Season soup with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into 4 bowls. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 247 calories; 6g Fat (23.6% calories from fat); 26 g Protein; 21g Carbohydrates; 1g Dietary Fiber; 49 mg Cholesterol; 836mg Sodium. Exchanges 1 Grain (Starch); 3 lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat.

This nutrition information is for White Rice. Brown Rice adds 1 g Fiber, reduces the calories to 242, and decreases the Grain exchange to 1/2.

Much of this soup can be made ahead. The onion, garlic and jalapeno can be sliced (be sure to wear latex gloves when you slice the jalapeno). The chicken can also be precooked and sliced. The lime juice can be squeezed ahead, the tomato can be seeded and chopped, and the fresh cilantro can be chopped. If all of these things are done ahead of time, this soup can be put together very quickly.

Enjoy!