Chipotle-Lime Broth with Chicken and Squash

I don't care much for chicken soup, though Janette likes it fine.  But this soup is so good it makes me long for cold and flu.  This is my kind of healing soup.  If you can use the clearest broth you can find, this is a gorgeous soup, too (you can see by its cover shot from the Food & Wine annual from 2000).  Spicy, with richness from the sweet squash and corn and creamy avocado, and balanced by the lime's acidity.

And it's really pretty easy, too.  Usually we use butternut squash and roast it, following the instructions, but you could also used frozen diced butternut squash. The chicken is just a roast rotisserie chicken you pick up from the grocery store and pull off the bone (though that will give you more than 2 cups). We also like to add a chayote squash, which adds another dimension of color and texture to the soup.  But that avocado, as a cooling garnish, really makes this soup phenomenal.

This recipe serves 6, but it doubles fine.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small sugar pumpkin or butternut squash (about 1 1/4 pounds), halved, seeded, and sliced 1 1/4 inches thick 
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
  
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
  
• 2 quarts chicken stock 
  
• 2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, rinsed, seeded, and thinly sliced 
  
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn 
  
• 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans 
  
• 2 cups shredded roasted chicken meat 
  
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus 1 lime, cut into wedges 
  
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 
  
• salt 
  
• 1 ripe Hass avocado, thinly sliced 
  

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush the pumpkin with ½ teaspoon of the oil and bake on a nonstick baking sheet for about 20 minutes, or just until tender. Let cool, then remove and discard the skin. Cut the pumpkin into ½-inch dice. 

Heat the remaining 2-½ teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add the onion, cover, and cook over moderately low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat, and cook, stirring, until golden. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. 

In a large saucepan or stockpot, bring the chicken stock to a simmer. Add the chipotles and cook for 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin, onion, corn, and beans and simmer over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken and cook just until warmed through. Add the lime juice and cilantro and season with salt. Serve the soup in large bowls and pass the avocado and lime wedges alongside. 

You could also drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil, if you wanted.

Wine Notes
This calls for an aromatic dry white wine.  Viognier would be a nice choice, but a dry gewürztraminer or riesling could work well, too.  There are lots of options with this soup.