I am so excited that fall feels like it has arrived because it means that I get to make my favorite food, soup!  I just love soups when the weather turns cold, and it seems that the endless varieties and options prevent me from tiring of soup.  This weekend I asked Drew what kind of chili he might want, and I should have known he'd say chicken chili.  It's his favorite.  This recipe is different from the white chicken chilis you see in Ruby Tuesday or other places because it lays no claim to being white.  It also contains corn, which is not found in those other chicken chilis.  Did I mention it has a whole pound of cheese?  How can it not be delicious?!

This recipe was given to me by my friend Constance, who held it hostage until I gave her my recipe for mocha cupcakes.  So glad we worked that trade, Constance!  I don't have the source to share with you- all I know is that it came from a church cookbook. I can just tell you that Hillary Lewis, who is credited with entering the recipe into that book, has a winner recipe. 

This chicken chili is super easy, delicious, and very economical.  It makes somewhere around 6 quarts, so you can feed a small army for about $20.  By my calculations, this works out to be less than $2 per bowl!  Make this huge pot of chili and have a party.  Feed your neighborhood.  Or, you could freeze several 1 quart portions to reheat later on.  It freezes and thaws well. 

You'll notice it calls for a lot of beans and chicken.  This time I reconstituted and cooked 1 1/2 pounds of dried great northern beans in a crock pot and then added the other ingredients.  To save work on the chicken end, I bought a rotisserie chicken from my grocery store and used all of its meat for the chicken needed in the recipe.  As before stated, I used my crock pot and cooked/warmed all of the chili on low so that it'd be ready when we got home from church.  Three cheers for the crock pot! 

I hope you enjoy this wonderful recipe!

Chicken Chili
5-6 cans great northern beans (or 1 1/2 to 2 lb dried beans)
1 jar salsa
1 lb pepper jack cheese, cubed
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 lb corn (2 cans or 1 big bag of frozen corn)
5-6 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed

Place all ingredients except cheese in a pot and heat over medium heat until warm.  When all ingredients are warm, add cheese and stir until incorporated.  Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.  Works great in the crock pot, too!


Notes

• As I said in the post, I didn't use cans of beans.  I cooked dry ones.  To do this, follow the instructions in my pinto bean post.  I soaked the beans Saturday afternoon and then put them in the crock pot to cook overnight on low.  Then, Sunday morning, I added the rest of the ingredients.
• Use whatever salsa you like- I use mild because I don't like extreme spiciness, but the original recipe calls for medium. 
• The recipe calls for pepper jack cheese, but I am sure it'd be delicious with monterrey jack or mild cheddar- just use a softer cheese that would be good for melting.