Hearty Queso Chicken Soup with Black Beans and Potatoes

For starters, can we talk about these pumpkin cookies that my friend over at Becoming Betty brought to my house last week. They were melt in your mouth good. If you need a good pumpkin cookie recipe, you now have one! SO good! Is it bad to admit that I ate half of the plate that she brought over within the first hour of her dropping them off? What does that tell you? DELICIOUS!


Anyways, I made this for my in-laws a while back and forgot to blog about it (this was right around the time when my family was moving and things were crazy). I am not quite sure how it slipped my mind, because it was SO GOOD! This recipe couldn't be simpler and really is foul proof. Who doesn't like a good bowl of soup as the weather is getting colder? (my goal for the winter is to make some sort of soup/chili/stew at least once a week) What are your favorite soup/chili/stew recipes?


Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 cans of chunk chicken (I get mine from Costco), undrained (or you can use 2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt (I used more)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (I used more)
1/4 teaspoon Lawry's garlic salt with parsley
3 3/4 cups chicken broth
2 10-ounce can cheddar cheese soup, divided
1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1 10-ounce can Mild Rotel Tomatoes
2 cups baking potatoes, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped


Directions
1. Heat oil in a 5 qt dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and carrots until softened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. 
2. Stir in garlic and chicken. Cook and stir for 1 minute. 
3. Add cumin, salt, pepper, garlic salt, chicken broth, 1 can cheese soup and cream of chicken soup, beans, tomatoes and potatoes. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are fork tender. 
4. Reduce heat to low and stir in cilantro leaves and additional cheese soup to thicken. Simmer on low until ready to serve. Garnish with chips and cilantro leaves if desired.