Well it was back to reality for me and Kristen. After a great week of vacation we returned to “Spring” in Minnesota. 3 inches of snow, wind blowing 30 – 40 mph, and wind chill temperatures below zero!! A far cry from the 90+ degrees in Palm Desert but a great night for some chicken chili!
Gather up your ingredients and let’s get started. I like to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs when making chicken soups. I think the dark meat has a lot more flavor and just makes the soup better.
Toss the chicken with some salt and pepper and put in a deep skillet. Cover the chicken with water, bring to boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Just until chicken is done. Drain the water and set chicken aside to cool.
Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat. Toss in one onion, chopped and cook until tender, about 7 minutes.
Add two 4 oz cans of chopped green chilies and cook for a few minutes more. Toss in 2-3 cloves fo chopped garlic and cook for another minute.
Add 2 cans, 15.5 oz each, of great northern beans to the pot. Now is a good time to add some spices as well. I use 1 T ground cumin, 1 T chili powder, 1/2 T dry oregano and some white pepper. If you like a little more heat you can dice up a fresh jalapeno pepper and add that now also. Pour in some chicken stock, enough to cover everything. I like to use low sodium so I can control the amount of salt. 
Now that the chicken has cooled, I like to shred it. Using 2 forks you can pull the chicken apart into nice long threads. Toss that into the pot and add more chicken stock, if desired. I do not like to have this chili to ‘soupy’ so do not add too much. Let that simmer for about 30 minutes to really let the flavors come out.
The final step is to add about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. This makes the chili creamy good!! Stir that in and heat through. Now it is time to grab a bowl and serve this up. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and fresh chopped cilantro. Enjoy!!