Super Flavor Soup

...that's what JG said to call it.  :-)  Do you ever have times when you make something up for dinner based upon what you have available, but it doesn't quite have the wow factor needed to be worthy of making again?  And then you wonder what to do with the leftovers?  That happened to us this week.  I threw some chicken in a baking dish, topped it with black beans, corn, and salsa.  Baked it.  I even added 4 oz. of cream cheese to the bean/corn/salsa mixture like I've seen done before.  Meh.  I did this "recipe" once before, but I must have doctored it more last time because it was way better than this week's attempt.  There was quite a bit leftover.  What to do?  Ask my mom how to make it into a black bean soup.  :-)  With her suggestions, I ended up with one of the best tasting soups ever to touch my taste buds!  So, taking a slight risk in guessing how to make this soup from start to finish rather than out of leftovers, here's the "recipe."  And if any of you have suggestions for a better name -- perhaps one that identifies the dish -- do tell!

[Super Flavor Soup]

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
2 cans whole kernel corn
2 cans black beans (or make your own*, as I did, to save money and nutritional value!)
1 cup salsa or picante
Chicken stock, as needed
4 oz. cream cheese*
Garlic powder
Cumin
Salt
Cheddar cheese & Sour cream

Combine cubed chicken, corn, black beans, and salsa in soup pot and mix well.  Add chicken stock to your desired soup consistency.  Add garlic powder, cumin, and salt to taste (I did about 1 tsp each and 1/4-1/2 salt, I think) and cream cheese.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.  I say the longer it simmers, the better, perhaps at least an hour.  Garnish with cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Goes GREAT with cornbread (which I now use honey instead of sugar -- oh my heavens!).  And having just had it for lunch, I think it's one of those even-better-the-next-day soups!

*Notes*

1) Making your own beans is super simple.  Just buy a bag.  Put the beans in a crock pot and cover with a couple inches of water.  Cook on high for 2-4 hours, making sure to keep the beans covered with water.  Check for doneness starting at 2 hours.  You don't want to let them get too mushy, especially if you plan to use the beans in soups and such (ask me how I know).  I stop cooking mine when they are still a little firm to the bite.  Then I divide them into bowls to cool, about as much as you would find in one can of beans with some liquid.  Once cooled, put them in quart-sized freezer bags and freeze them flat.  Ta da!  A bag of beans for a buck with no factory added ingredients vs. 4-5 cans of factory beans that would cost you $4+.  For my black beans, I season them with a touch of salt, cumin, and chili powder before dividing the batch.  Delish!

2) I'm sure you could leave out the cream cheese if you have sensitive family members.  I just had to include it since that's what was in my original (failed) dish.