Healthy Dinner Recipe: Chicken Salsa Soup

With the holiday season behind us, many of us are looking to continue eating comfort foods that make us feel like we are still on vacation from work and at home all day with our families. While this sounds wonderful, maintaining and keeping off weight still needs to be at the forefront of our minds.

A big category of comfort food is soups. However, we need to be careful about what type of soup we are eating because pre-made soups are often loaded with preservatives and sodium. Here are some tips on how to choose the best soups for your weight loss journey.

•  Vegetable soups such as cabbage or tomato are low in calories and are great for weight loss.
• Always choose clear soups over creamy soups. Creamy soups are often loaded with calories.
• Choose soups that are low in sodium. Eating foods that are high in sodium causes you to retain water.
• Time and money saving tip: Make a large batch of soup at home on a Sunday afternoon to have for healthy, comfort food, lunches throughout the week!

Here is a recipe for one of our favorite soups! Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Chicken Salsa Soup

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
28 oz. diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
3 cups water
1 cup of your favorite salsa (low sodium)
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 tsp. cumin
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground pepper
1 cup rice
1 avocado (optional)

Directions:
Pour all ingredients except rice into a crockpot. Mix well. Heat on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Two hours before serving, shred the chicken and add the rice. Cook for the remaining time. Serve with avocado slices on top as a garnish.