(Not) Chicken Enchilada Soup: A Vegetarian Jackfruit Take for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

The September Eating Well Magazine had an article on Kindersoups--soups that would appeal to kids. I think of myself as a big kid sometimes and was drawn to the Chicken Enchilada Soup which looked so creamy and inviting. Since I don't eat meat or chicken, I replaced it with canned jackfruit, as it works really well in soups and stews. My changes to the recipe are noted in red below.

Eating Well says, "Corn tortillas thicken this chicken enchilada soup, but Cheddar and cream cheese give it the richness you'd expect from an enchilada. Serve it with something fresh and crunchy like a jicama slaw dressed with a little olive oil and lime juice for a healthy dinner that will appeal to the whole family."

(Not) Chicken Enchilada Soup
Adapted from Eating Well Magazine, Sept. 2019, Recipe by Annie Peterson
(Serves 6) 

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I used no-sodium non-chicken broth)

1 (15-oz) can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted tomatoes)

1 (4-oz) can diced green chiles 

(I added 1 1/2 cups frozen corn)

6 corn tortillas, chopped (I added 2 extra tortillas when I stirred in the cheese)

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (I used about 3 cups seasoned jackfruit*)

4 oz reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup shredded white Cheddar cheese (I used a sharp cheddar cheese)

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

fresh cilantro, sour cream and/or guacamole for garnish

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add broth, tomatoes, chiles, (corn) tortillas, chili powder and cumin. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Add chicken (jackfruit) and cream cheese, stirring until the cream cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Combine shredded cheese and cornstarch in a small bowl and gradually add to the soup, stirring until melted. (I also added two more chopped corn tortillas as mine had completely melted.) Return the pot to medium heat and cook until hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve the soup with cilantro, sour cream and/or guacamole, if desired.

*For the jackfruit, I rinsed and drained two cans (about 3 cups total) of jackfruit and used my fingers to pull it apart. I sauteed it with a little olive oil and my favorite taco seasoning mix before adding it to the soup.

Notes/Results:  Like a rich and creamy tortilla soup, this one is a very tasty bowl-full. It is very thick (I did add extra tortillas) so if you like things more soup-ish than stew-ish, you might try adding an extra cup of broth. I liked the addition of the corn, hominy would be good too. If you want to make it vegan, just sub in vegan cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. I am looking forward to my lunches of this soup this week. I'd happily make it again.

Let's look into the Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays Kitchen and see who is here.

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog shared a few of her Carrot, Jicama, and Apple Coleslaw recipes, saying, "If you are looking for an easy, but healthy simple vegan side dish, think about sweet and juicy apple jicama coleslaw! Everyone seems to enjoy it, and it can literally be made in minutes with the shredding blade of your food processor. If you don't have jicama, I've included another dairy free, gluten free recipe that is also made with apple !! I'm not talking about the commercial mayonnaise drenched coleslaw that you can buy at the store. My recipes are fresh, low calorie, (zero points on WW), raw, nourishing and versatile."

Elizabeth of Literature and Limes shared Moroccan Lentil Chickpea Stew, inspired by a recent read and said, "Like I said, there were a lot of mentions of food in this book. Nothing in this book though was entirely crucial to the telling of the story. It was all mentioned rather in passing. So the reason I chose the Moroccan stew is because there was a scene that sort of revolved around this dinner with the stew. I didn’t make it with the lamb and the apricots that were discussed in The Great Believers, because unfortunately buying lamb is really hard at my local stores and when I can find it, is very expensive. ... This hearty stew was a great way to begin into soup season, with us meeting one of our colder nights since summer started."

  
Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach shared a recipe for Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Chicken that can be used as sandwich fixins' on rolls or buns. She said,"This is so quick and easy to get ready for the fridge, and tastes really good. ... Serve on buns or rolls (gluten-free if you are on a GF diet) as sandwiches. ... It was very good but since the flavor wasn’t quite as bold as I like, when I make it again I’ll double the sauce ingredients. The recipe says it makes 6 servings but for us it was a lot more than that."

 
Debra of Eliot's Eats shared the Kale-Quinoa Salad with Pistachios and Raisins and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette inspired by our current Cook the Books read, The Food Explorer. She said, "Because of the kale, quinoa, pistachios and raisins that Fairchild “discovered” along with wanting to give a nod to Meyer, I decided to make a salad combining all these flavors. ... This salad turned out quite tasty if I do say so myself. The pistachios paired well with the nutty quinoa and the raisins gave it the right amount of sweet. I have to say that this kale salad was both charismatic and delicious!"

 Thanks to everyone who joined in this week!

 About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!