Recipe: Mexican Chicken and Garbanzo Bean Soup

MEXICAN CHICKEN AND GARBANZO BEAN SOUP

2 boxes (1-quart each) chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 head green cabbage
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 small roasted chicken, meat shredded and skin and bones discarded (3-4 cups)
1 tablespoon pureed chipotle peppers in adobo
1 whole chipotle pepper in adobo, finely chopped
2 limes (1 for squeezing into the soup, 1 quartered)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR SERVING:
1 ripe Hass avocado
Sea salt
Corn tortilla chips

Heat chicken broth and oregano in large soup pot over high heat until broth just begins to boil, about 5 minutes.

Halve cabbage through core, and carve out and discard core. Place the cabbage flat side down and slice thinly lengthwise.

Add cabbage and garbanzo beans to soup and return soup to a low boil. Stir in chicken, pureed chipotle, and chopped chipotle pepper, and cook soup for about 7 minutes, until cabbage wilts and is slightly tender.

Turn off heat, stir in juice of 1 lime, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Divide soup evenly among four large soup plates or bowls, filling them to just below the rim.

Halve avocado, remove and discard pit, and season it with sea salt. Scoop avocado in spoonfuls onto soup, scatter a small handful of tortilla chips over each bowl, and serve each with a wedge of lime.

Source: A Twist of the Wrist by Nancy Silverton