Farewell Taco Soup?

Taco Soup will forever live long and prosper in the homes of many across America. Don't know what I'm talking about? Move to the South. And not South Carolina or Tennessee. I know they think they are "Southerners" but come on, really? Not the South. It snows there. If you're still not sure...Go to Texas. After all, it IS the best state in the country.

Anyway, when the few of us out there, who got sick of the infamous soup (gasp!), was looking for something new, we fell upon a recipe for a chicken and black bean chili. Now, don't get me wrong, I live in South Texas, and realize that real chili DOES NOT HAVE BEANS. However, I'm willing to call this a chili despite the plentiful amount of black beans that really make this dish delicious. Mainly because, well...it is too thick to be a soup, and to me, stew shouldn't be spicy. Rachael Ray made up the term "Stoup" for something of this consistency, but I think that's too dumb of a word to use. Stop with the made up culinary terms, Rachael, you're confusing the masses of people who can't really cook, but watch you and think they can. Thus, "chili" it is christened.
You can find the recipe here.

You just have to dump everything in and let them simmer together, melding flavors and getting all tasty. Quite delicious! It is fairly cheap, freezes well too, and makes fabulously filling lunches. Getting protein is often a struggle for me, so the beans and chicken in this really help out a lot. While Taco Soup purists will be clinging to that age-old recipe for decades, I will be trying out new ones, and finding something that, I think, is even better than the original!