Recipe: Peruvian Chicken Soup with Cashews

Serves 6 to 8

6 cups Basic Chicken Stock

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or light olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 small carrot, peeled and coarsely diced

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 pound red potatoes, peeled, halved and cut into ¼-inch thick slices

½ cup regular or fat-free half-and-half

5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Accompaniments:

½ cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped

3 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped

½ cup pitted black Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped

¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives

1. Prepare Basic Chicken Stock. Reserve 6 cups broth and 2 cups shredded meat; set both aside.

2. In a soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and carrot; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add smoked paprika, cayenne and salt; stir 1 minute. Then add potatoes, stirring to coat with the spices. Add reserved stock and bring to a boil. Cook, partially covered, 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir soup occasionally to keep potatoes from sticking to bottom of pot.

3. Remove soup from burner. Stir a couple of ladlefuls of soup into the half-and-half, then slowly add back to soup. Stir in chicken and Parmesan. Put back on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes to heat chicken. (Don't let soup come to a boil, especially is using fat-free half-and-half.) Adjust temperature if needed to keep soup from coming to a boil. Serve with bowls of cashews, eggs, olives and chives on the side for individual garnishes.

Adapted from "In Nirmala's Kitchen: Everyday World Cuisine" by Nirmala Narine