Tomatillo Chicken Soup

YUUUM!!! This is my new favorite! I recently re-organized my recipe binder (which was full of recipes ripped out of magazines) and added this one, from the Nov 2010 Better Homes and Gardens magazine) to our menu this week. Now when I went to make it at 5pm I realized it was a crock pot recipe, woops. I just sauteed the peppers, celery and onion in a large pot first and used a can of chicken. I let it all simmer about 20 minutes and it was still delicious, so I can only imagine it's even better in the crock pot. It was tangy with a little heat and sooo delicious! I was planning to eat out for lunch today but was so excited about these leftovers that I didn't...it's that good!

Ingredients:
* 6 medium tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
* 1-1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 1 32-oz. box chicken broth (I used low-sodium)
* 1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
* 1/2 cup chopped red onion
* 1 stalk celery, chopped
* 1 4-oz. can diced green chiles
* 2 Tbsp. snipped fresh cilantro
* 1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced*
* 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
* 1 Tbsp. lime juice
* 2 tsp. chili powder
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tsp. salt
* 1 tsp. ground black pepper
* Dairy sour cream, chopped green onion, chopped red sweet pepper, sliced jalapeño peppers, snipped fresh cilantro, and/or tortilla chips (we topped with monterrey jack cheese and tortilla strips)

Directions:
1. Chop three tomatillos. Place remaining tomatillos in blender. Cover; blend until smooth. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker combine pureed and chopped tomatillos, chicken, broth, sweet pepper, onion, celery, chiles, cilantro, jalapeño, cumin, lime juice, chili powder, garlic, and 1 tsp. each salt and pepper.
2. Cover; cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Remove chicken; let stand until cool enough to handle. Shred chicken; return to soup. If desired, top with sour cream, additional chopped red sweet pepper or jalapeño peppers, snipped cilantro, and/or tortilla chips. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Servings Per Recipe 4, Calories 247, Protein 42g, Carbohydrate 10g, Fat total 4g, Cholesterol 101mg, Saturated fat 1g, Dietary Fiber, total 3g, Sugar total 4g