If I can do it, so can you!

For Mike's birthday, he requested homemade chicken chili to serve at our Notre Dame vs. Utah viewing party. I love cooking for Mike's single friends because they always make me feel like the best cook, even though I am pretty sure it's because most of them just aren't used to a home cooked meal rather than my cooking abilities. Anyway, this chili got especially good reviews so I thought I would share the recipe with you. I promise it will be a crowd pleaser! Thanks Toni for sharing!

Southwestern Chicken Chili

2 TB olive oil

1 large white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green pepper, cored and chopped

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

4 medium tomatoes, chopped (I use canned whole tomatoes)

1 whole chicken, cooked (I used the Costco's rotisserie chicken)

6 cups water

8 oz can tomato sauce

2 15 oz cans black beans, not drained

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 heaping tsp cumin powder

1 heaping tsp chili powder

2 TB chopped fresh cilantro (garnish)

sour cream (garnish)

In a large stockpot, heat oil. Saute onion and garlic for 1 minute. Add green pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes. Saute for 2 minutes. Add whole chicken, water and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, cook 30 minutes. Remove chicken. Add beans, salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. Cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, debone chicken. Discard bones and skin, reserving chicken meat. Add chicken to soup. Taste for seasoning.

Serve with chopped fresh cilantro and a dollop of sour cream on top. Serves 6-8 people.

Tip 1: Next time I make this I will probably just use the breasts of the chicken because the rest was a pain to debone

Tip 2 thanks to Miss Annie: In you have a Kitchen aid, you can put the deboned and skinned chicken in it and use the white attachment. This will shred the chicken for you!

I served the chili with garlic bread and added fritos to my bowl to give it some crunch.

Bonus Recipe! Since this snow is making me depressed, I thought I would share a summer recipe with you to make me feel better. We have made this multiple times and it always gets rave reviews. Again, credit for this recipe goes to Toni.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp Skewers

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

2-2 1/2 pounds peeled shrimp rinsed and drained (I buy these at Costco)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon grated lemon peel

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

lemon wedges (garnish)

1) Mix salt and sugar in bowl. Add shrimp and stir gently to coat. Cover and chill for 45 minutes-1 hour. Rinse shrimp well and drain. Also, rinse and drain bowl.

2) Return shrimp to bowl. Add olive oil, parsley, lemon peel, garlic, and pepper. Mix to coat. Thread shrimp on metal or soaked wooden skewers. Run skewer through body and head so the shrimp looks like the letter C.

3) Lay shrimp on an oiled BBQ grill on high heat and close lid. Cook, turning once, until shrimp are bright pink and opaque, but still moist looking in center of thickest part. 5-6 minutes total.

4) Serve with lemon wedge to squeeze over shrimp.

Happy cooking and Happy Turkey Day!