White Chicken Chili

Chili is a fantastic dish for damp, cool, autumn days, and a great comfort food for frosty winter days.  This White Chicken Chili straight-forward, easy, and extremely tasty. The only thing you might not already have in your pantry to make this is the chopped green chilis. You'll find these in the Mexican food section of your grocery store, near the salsa & refried beans. Last time I was in the states, I picked up a box of gluten free Bisquick, so I whipped up a batch of those to serve alongside the white chili.

The first time that I had this chili was at the staff & faculty Christmas potluck at the university where I worked at the time. My friend & coworker made it, and I'm fairly certain that I demanded the recipe from her after I took my first bite. So, thank you, Amy, for passing on this recipe!

*Just thinking, here, you could absolutely use leftover turkey instead of chicken in this recipe. In which case, it would be White Turkey Chili, but I'm sure that it would taste just as good! (Maybe better, since you had to do less work for it? I'm going to try this next Tuesday after Canadian Thanksgiving!*

Ingredients
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 5 pieces of bacon, cooked & crumbled
• 2 (15 1/2 ounce) cans white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions
Stovetop: In large saucepan, saute chicken, onions and garlic power in oil until chicken is no longer  pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and cream.
Serve immediately.

Crockpot: Sauté the chicken and seasonings and then combine everything* in the crock-
pot for 3-4 hours on low.

*If you will be freezing some of this, don't add the sour cream & whipping cream with the rest of the ingredients; after chili has cooked 3-4 hours, remove the amount you're going to freeze, and then add the sour cream & whipping cream to the remaining dish. Do the same for the batch that comes out of the freezer.