A couple of weeks ago at work we had a chili making competition and I decided to make a White Chicken Chili recipe that my sister Katie makes that is absolutely fabulous!   I made her recipe and I won an award!! :-)  I was super excited!!  Since it is still cold here in the Northeast I thought that today would be a good day to share this very warm and spicy recipe with you all!  This chili is seriously scrumptious!  Enjoy!

Award Winning White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 4 mini bell peppers (the kind that come in a bag), chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 3 pickled cherry peppers, chopped
• 2 large chicken breasts cooked and chopped,  (I cooked mine in the crockpot with some thyme and a little olive oil.  Get chicken breast with the bone in and the skin on for extra flavor.  Only use the breast meat in this recipe and discard the skin and bones.)
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like it add more or less)
• 3 15 oz. cans of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth, and more as needed while cooking
• 3/4 cup of dry white wine
• 1 cup of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Add the onions and bell peppers to the pot and saute for a couple of minutes.  Next add the garlic and cherry peppers to the pot and continue to saute.  Add the chicken, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper to the mixture and continue to saute.  Next add the beans, chicken broth, and white wine.  Bring this mixture to a boil, and reduce the heat so that it will simmer.  Simmer the mixture for at least an hour and a half.  Add more chicken broth if the mixture becomes too thick.  This step is important.  Simmering slowly for a long time adds flavor!!  About 20 minutes before the chili is done add the shredded cheese to the mixture.  Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper as is necessary.  After your chili has finished simmering it is ready to serve!  I like to serve this with a little bit of sour cream on top, and some crushed tortilla chips.  Yum!

Serves 8, WWPP: 9 per serving

My Award!! :-)