Creamy Poblano Chicken Soup

After another Southern California winter week with temperatures over 80 degrees, I was looking for any excuse to make soup.  Today the Santa Ana Winds blew in and dropped the temperature to a “Brisk” 69 degrees so I rushed to get the pressure cooker and Vitamix working so I could enjoy my favorite cool night meal:

Creamy Poblano Chicken Soup

• 2 Roasted Poblano Peppers
• 1 Roasted Sweet Potato (or Yam)
• 1 Roasted Small Yellow Onion
• 1 TBLS Olive Oil
• 32 oz Chicken Stock (I use Emeril’s)
• 4-5 Cloves Garlic Finely Chopped
• 8 oz Cream Cheese (Room Temperature)
• 1 lb diced chicken breast
• 2 Cups Shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese
• Freshly Ground Sea Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Roast the sweet potato in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes on high.  Remove and set aside.
2. Using the Brown function on the pressure cooker, roast the Poblano peppers, the quartered onion and the garlic in the olive oil for 10 minutes after the cooker comes up to temperature.  Remove from pan when done.
3. Add the chicken to the pressure cooker pan and again set it to the Brown function.  Cook the chicken for about 10 minutes, or until just cooked through.
4. Remove the seeds and stems from the peppers.
5. Add peppers, onion, sweet potato, garlic, 1 Cup of the broth, and cream cheese to the Vitamix container.  Process on low to medium speed until well combined and smooth.
6. Add the chicken to the Vitamix container and process on the low setting until chicken shreds and is no longer in chunks.
7. Pour contents of Vitamix container back into the pressure cooker pan.  Add remaining 3 cups of stock, the shredded cheese.  Stir until well combined.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if desired.
8. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and select the Stew/Soup function.  After the machine reaches cooking temperature, cook for 10 minutes.
9. When cooking is complete, release pressure, stir and serve soup while hot.

Serve with buttered toasted sourdough croutons, a dollop of sour cream and sliced avocado if desired.

**Vegetarian Option:  Don’t add the chicken if you would like to serve this as a side or keep it meat-free.

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