MEXICAN CHICKEN CORN BLACK BEAN SOUP

1 chicken carcass or 1 whole cooked chicken (if you want a meatier soup)*
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 green pepper, cored and diced
1 can (28 ounce) whole marzano tomatoes, broken into bite size pieces
1 can (15 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed
4 ears of corn or 1 pound frozen corn
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 jalapeno, cored and seeded then chopped finely
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chili powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed

In a dutch oven or heavy pot, heat olive oil and sauté onion and green pepper. Remove from pot to a dish. Shuck the corm and cut the kernels from the cob, scraping the juice from the cob and set aside; keeping the cobs for the broth. Put the chicken carcass or whole chicken and corn cobs in the pot, covered with water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for an hour. Remove the chicken and cobs from the pot and let the chicken cool before removing the chicken from the bones; tossing the cobs and skin of the chicken.

Add the tomatoes to the broth as well as the cooked onions and peppers, garlic and jalapeno. Season with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes before adding the black beans and corn. Cook for 10 more minutes adjusting the seasonings. Add lime juice just before serving.

Garnish with lime slices, jalapeno slices, or tortilla chips. Also a slice of hot corn bread would be like “icing on the cake”…of cornbread that is!

* When I cook a whole chicken, usually on the grill, I freeze the carcass for soups and broths. It is already delectably seasoned and makes for a bolder, not bland broth!