Food Friday: White Chili

Well, no matter how we feel about it, fall is here. You know it's fall when you have to basically wear two different outfits every day, peeling off layers as the day progresses, and start putting them back on after the sun goes down. Consider yourself lucky, because today I'm sharing with you one of my favorite fall recipes. I look forward to making it every year and it always warms my soul.


I've had this recipe for quite a while. And although I can't really remember where I got it, I feel like it's a Paula Deen recipe. But don't be scared! There is some butter in it, but not an obscene amount and if you want you can probably cut it back or substitute a healthy oil instead. No matter where it came from, I've made several alterations to it anyway so it's sort of mine anyway (insert evil laugh here).

A few recipe notes: You might notice I call for 3 different kinds of white beans. I, personally, like the variety of doing this, but you can certainly use 3 cans of the same kind of bean. As long as it's white, it doesn't matter to me. For the chicken, I usually buy a small rotisserie chicken, pull all the meat off, and use about 3/4 of it in the soup. I think the flavor of the soup is much better with some dark meat. Also, sometimes I can't find white shoepeg corn. In that case, I just use yellow. And, you can use canned corn instead, just make sure you drain it first. Finally, it says to cook it for 1 1/2 hours, but I've only cooked it for an hour before and it was still great. Obviously, the longer you cook it, the more the flavors meld together, but it's still really freaking good no matter how long you cook it.

This is great served with cornbread or my Bacon Cheddar Monkey Bread recipe, which you'll see next week! (I know, I know.... bacon? Chicken? I guess October is going to be meat-eater's month here on Going Oregonic.)

White Chili
1 can cannellini beans, drained
1 can navy beans, drained
1 can great northern beans, drained
5 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup chopped green chiles (fresh or canned)
3/4 small rotisserie chicken (white and dark meat) pulled
1 tablespoon ground cumin
8 oz. frozen white shoepeg corn
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
3/4 tablespoon salt
Monterey jack cheese, shredded

1. Place beans in a large pot w/chicken stock & bring to a boil over high heat.
2. In a saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and green chiles and saute for 5 minutes. Add chile mixture to pot with beans.
3. Add chicken, corn, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, and salt. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours.
4. Top with cheese and serve immediately.