Winter Warmer Recipe: Chicken Chilli with Avocado and Lime

Our guest writer Jessie (aka mscooksalot) has loved cooking and exploring recipes for as long as she can remember. Passionate about real food, she wants to know what's in it and where it comes from.  She believes that food is one of the greatest pleasures in life and can transform your experiences from the forgettable to the sublime. We asked her to help us kick start a healthy and happy New Year! 

This recipe is ideal healthy comfort food to beat the January blues. And it’s also perfect as an antidote to all the indulgences of the Christmas season, as it is low in carbs, high in fibre and full of good fats like avocado and olive oil.

It’s also full of flavour from the various spices like cumin and cinnamon.  These spices are excellent at supporting your health - for example cinnamon is known to help balance blood sugar and garlic is a great immune booster.

The shredded chicken breast and white beans make it very filling and satisfying without being heavy.  I serve it with sliced avocado, one of the best foods for your body, full of vitamin E, folate, fibre, protein, potassium and more.  Avocado is also loaded with oleic acid, one of the healthiest monounsaturated fats, also found in olive oil, and super beneficial for your health.

This chili is really easy to make, and will be ready in about 30 mins, start to finish, so it’s perfect when you get home after a long day and just need a delicious, nutritious and satisfying dinner to warm you up on a cold, bleak January night!

Ingredients:

• 2 free range chicken breasts, boneless & skinless

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped

• 1 organic chicken stock cube dissolved in 500 ml boiled water

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/2 ground cinnamon

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

• 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes or to taste

• sea salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• 1 400 g tin / carton cannellini beans (or pinto beans)

• 1 ripe avocado (Hass avocados are best)

• 1 lime

• small bunch of fresh coriander

Optional extras:

• salted corn tortilla chips

• sour cream

• hot sauce of your choice

• mature white cheddar, grated

Method:

•  Add the chicken breasts to a small pot with the chicken stock over medium high heat.  Bring to a simmer and quickly turn the heat down and leave to poach for 12 - 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through but still tender.

• In the meantime, sauté the diced onion in the olive oil over a medium heat with a pinch of salt until the onions turn translucent.

• Turn up the heat and add all of the dried spices and crushed garlic.  Stir them well and leave to fry for 2 minutes, watching to make sure they don’t start to catch on the bottom.

• Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the stock and using two forks, shred the chicken breasts into bite size pieces.

• Add the tin or carton of beans to the pan with the onions, along with the liquid inside, stirring well to combine.

• Next add the chicken stock and the shredded chicken into the chili, and stir well.

• Leave to simmer together for about 10 minutes, allowing all of the flavours to blend.  The consistency should be like a thick stew by now.

• Serve in soup or pasta bowls, garnished with the sliced avocado, a good squeeze of sharp lime juice and a sprig of fresh coriander.

I love to serve this dish with a few crunchy salted tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream and a handful of grated white cheddar cheese. But if you’re on a New Year’s health kick, the avocado and lime are more than enough to make it special. Enjoy!

Are you tempted to try out this recipe? What is your healthy eating fav? We'd love to hear all about it!

If you'd like to read more from Jessie, you can check out her blog here!