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We have a new soup to add to our Fall Menu.  Our family has a thing about soups. We’re ever so slightly, but not enough to be hospitalized, certifiably, and rather proudly-obsessed with soups.  Just follow this blog over the fall and winter and it will speak for us.

I found this recipe in a new cookbook.  Besides the obvious draw of being a soup, it also called for both sweet and white potatoes, which were sitting together in our csa basket as I flipped through the cookbook.  The combination of vegetables and flavors was new to me but I’m happy to report, a zinging success.  An excellent first fall dish of the season and not just loved by my own stomach, but by a handful of voices around the table shouting, “Let’s add this to the fall menu!”

Chicken, Potato, and Black Bean Soup
serves 6

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups water
• 4 medium-size russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 medium-size sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups chicken cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
• 2 tsps dried oregano
• 2 tsps ground cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 2 tbs seeded and diced green chiles(optional)
• 15 ounce can black beans, undrained
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• Sour cream and taco chips

1. Bring broth and water to boil in a soup pot; add potatoes and boil ten minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and cook until it turns opaque. Add onion and celery; cook, stirring a few times, until vegetables are soft.  Add oregano, cumin, cayenne, sage, and green chiles.  Stir to combine and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer.
3. Add mixture from skillet into soup with boiling potatoes. Reduce heat to medium and add black beans including liquid in the can.  Simmer soup until potatoes are tender.  If soup get too thick, you can add another 1 to 2 cups brother later to cooking time.
4. When potatoes are done, stir in lime juice.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with sour cream and taco chips.

Notes: Next time I won’t use two pans.  I can’t see any reason not to go ahead and do step 2 in the soup pot, and then add the broth, water, and potatoes and continue on with the recipe.  I also think you can cook the onions and herbs right when the chicken starts cooking, not after.  I skipped the celery, green chiles, and cayenne(we have mild palates at our house), but next time I’ll throw in a can of green chiles.  I also added more cumin and sage to enhance the flavor.  The rest of the fam enjoyed the sour cream, but I didn’t miss it in my dairy free bowl.  We topped our soup with Trader Joe’s Vegetable and Flaxseed Tortilla chips-great color and taste.  Don’t skip the lime juice.

The cookbook: The recipe came from Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Osten. I’ve read several books in this genre and even though they usually have good tips for cutting costs on the food bill, I haven’t found them to be a mecca of good recipes. Hence, my surprise when I found myself salivating as I flipped the the recipes in Osten’s book.  With a family of six and one income, I’m looking for ways to save money.  But we also like quality, fresh, flavorful, healthy food and usually those elements are sacrificed in cost-cutting books. But in Family Feasts, she uses fresh vegetables, non-processed foods, and the recipes read like ones found in my other cookbooks.  Atleast, I hope so, since this is the first recipe I’ve made.  (side note: I was chagrined to find the customary salmon and tuna chowder recipes, but I’m not going to let that hold me back from the 198 other recipes and cost-cutting information)