Categories: Chicken, Main Dish, Mark Bittman, Soup, Tex-Mex

Ingredients

• 7 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
• 2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 2 celery ribs, cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 1 onion, cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 4 -6 dried chipotle peppers, to taste
• 1/3 cup long grain rice
• salt
• black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions

1. Add the stock to a saucepan with the carrots, celery, and onion; bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, soak the chipotles in just-boiled water to cover for 10 minutes.

3. Decrease heat so the stock simmers steadily and, when the carrots are just about tender, add the rice, salt, and pepper; stir.

4. Bring back to a boil and continue to simmer. When the chipotles are soft, remove them from the liquid, open them up on a cutting board and, using the back of a knife, scrape out all the seeds and stems.

5. Combine the chiles in a blender with the garlic, tomato paste, oregano, and a large pinch of salt.

6. Add either sufficient chicken stock (you can use some form the simmering soup) or, if you?re extremely heat tolerant, the soaking liquid, to allow the blender to puree the chiles and other ingredients well.

7. When the rice is tender, this will take about 20 minutes; taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.

8. Divide among 4 bowls, passing the chipotle paste at the table and warning your fellow-diners about its intense heat.

9. This soup is often garnished with diced raw onion, avocado, tomato, and a squeeze of lime.

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