I had leftover rice to use up. I usually opt for fried rice but the husband had a major Chinese food craving last night and I wasn’t about to make homemade fried rice so soon after eating the “real” deal.
So I set to thinking. I was cooking up some chicken for chicken salad and had a bunch leftover. I pulled everything out of the fridge that I wanted used (pickled jalapeños, rice, chicken, salsa, cooked kidney beans, and chicken broth) and then skipped out to the freezer and found corn and zucchini. The basement yielded roasted tomato sauce and canned tomato chunks. Yes, soup it was all destined to be.
I love when it comes together so easily and yields such mouthwatering results. Brad went nuts for it!
1 T lard
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt canned tomatoes
1 pt tomato sauce (roasted is yummy!)
1/2 cup salsa
2 canned jalapeños, seeded and diced (green chilies would be the store-bought alternative, I believe)
1 qt chicken stock
1 pt frozen corn
1 pt frozen diced zucchini
4 cups cooked kidney beans
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t salt
3 cups leftover rice
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Sour cream, cheese, hot sauce, cilantro, etc, for serving
Heat lard in a 5-6qt soup pot. Add onion and sauté a few minutes. Add garlic and then the tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, jalapeños, stock, corn, zucchini, beans, cumin, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes. Add rice and cook another 10 minutes or so. Add chicken and heat through. Serve immediately with desired toppings. A fresh loaf of sour dough doesn’t hurt, either.
Yield: about a gallon
I see you are using frozen zucchini here. Do you just dice and freeze or do you blanch first? Thanks!!
Hi Lori! Yes I just dice and freeze. The texture is gross so we don’t eat it as a plain cooked veggie but in soup it is fine!
Thank you!! I love reading your recipes. 🙂