A Bountiful Kitchen: White Chicken Chili & Dead Man's Dinner for Halloween!

Our long standing tradition for Halloween has been soup for dinner. I found if I prepared something my kids like for dinner, they would actually eat something healthy before they went out and loaded up on candy! This is a photo of the "Dead Man's Dinner" I set up today at ABC4 News. I partnered with Harmons Grocery to display this fun way to serve dinner at your next Halloween party! It's really simple to recreate at home. Here's the segment from earlier today, if you want to take a look.

Instructions for laying out the Dead Man's Dinner!
BTW-Total credit for this idea goes to my bff Melinda, who loves to throw a good Halloween par-tay. She's done everything from the Dead Man's dinner to punch in a toilet bowl.
Yes, an actual toilet bowl.
On the table.
Instead of a punch bowl.
Sick, I know.
Start with a piece of fabric or a tablecloth under the clothing. Lay out a flannel shirt and a pair of pants. make sure the clothing items are clean! I used a skeleton head (with a wig on top), but a carved pumpkin would work too. I spooned guacamole (from Harmons) coming out of the mouth of the skeleton. The lungs were made from Fougasse bread, again, from Harmons bakery. Also black tortilla chips around the outer lungs. The soup served as the stomach of the dead man, and toppings were placed all around in small black bowls. I used prepared items such as Harmons pineapple salsa, regular salsa, sour cream, grated cheese, Goldfish crackers in two sizes to go around the soup. For the arms, I stacked pumpkin cookies, and used gloves with skeleton hands coming out of the sleeves. A package or two of fresh kale filled in around the body. Cups of chocolate pudding with crushed up oreos and gummy worms were placed around the body, close to the greenery. Whole and cut up apples for the legs, with tubs of caramel dip served as the knee caps! Ranch dip in small tubs served as the feet, and carrots as the toes around the ranch dips. I also lined the body with some Oreo truffles I made by crushing up a package of oreos with 4 oz of soft cream cheese. I scooped out the mixture onto a cookie sheet, refrigerated and dipped in chocolate and decorated wit sprinkles.

Nicea and our friend, the Dead Man. And me. About to dig in and have lunch!
Her name totally fits. Nice-a. Seriously one of the nicest people I've met.
And she likes to eat. My kind of person.

The soup is quick and easy. You can make it in about 20 minutes and depending on how you serve it, can use it for a party or a weeknight family dinner. It's a crowd pleaser and one I've been making for years. I'm sure it will end up on your list of recipes you'll use over and over again.
Happy Halloween!

Troy Thompson. Having a little too much fun with the Dead Man's dinner table.
He is adorable. Really.

White Chicken Chili
A Bountiful Kitchen

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 to 2 lbs chicken breast, boneless, skinless ( about 2 whole breasts)
salt and pepper

1 clove garlic, chopped
juice from one lime
1-4 oz can chopped green chiles

4 - 15 oz cans white beans ( I like S&W brand), not drained
1- 15 oz can chicken broth
1 small bag frozen corn ( I prefer white corn) or 2 1/2 cups
2 teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup of cream, optional for creamy texture.

Using a large pan, suitable for making soup, cook the onion in the olive oil for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the chicken breasts, salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat, turning once. Add the garlic, juice from the lime (squeeze right on top of the chicken) and can of chopped green chiles. Either remove the chicken from the pan and cut into bite size pieces on a cutting board, or shred in the pan.
Add the remaining ingredients. Cook for about ten minutes.
Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa.
If desired, for a creamy soup, add about 1/2 to 1 cup of cream to the soup after heated and stir gently. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and serve.
Yields 8-10 bowls of soup