Cuban Chicken Soup

My husband is Cuban and when he first came to this country he missed the food of his culture. He would tell me about a dish, tell me the ingredients and then wanted me to recreate it (sometimes without ever tasting it). This is one of those dishes.

I never measure, so these measurements are approximate.

Boneless chicken (I always prefer breasts but thighs will work too)

4 cans Chicken broth and/or Vegetable broth

(this is a good opportunity to use some of your homemade chicken broth)

Large can of pureed or crushed tomatoes

2 Carrots

1 large Potato and/or 1 large Sweet Potato

1 large Onion

2 Bell Peppers (red and or green)

1/2 bag Frozen Corn

1 tablespoon Cumin

2 tablespoons Garlic

2 tablespoons of your favorite taco seasoning

2-3 bay leaves

Salt

Large stock pot

Pour the broth into the pot. How many cans of broth depends upon how big a batch you want. I start with filling the pot half way with liquid.

Cut up vegetables into bite size pieces (for quicker cooking, smaller pieces will cook faster) and add to the broth

Add salt if you desire

Add garlic powder (or crushed), cumin, taco seasoning, and 2-3 bay leaves

You can cut the chicken into bite size pieces or cook it whole and cut later (that's what I do because I hate to cut raw chicken) add chicken to the pot.

Cook on medium high heat for about an hour. If you used the whole chicken pieces, pull the chicken out and cube it and return to the pot.

Add the corn and cook for about 10 more minutes

For quicker cooking, you can saute the vegetables first.

*If you want a larger batch the rule of thumb should be for soups you should have about 2x as much liquid as solid.