Chicken Vegetable Soup
Soup is really healthy, low calorie and good for the soul especially if you make it yourself from scratch. It’s quite easy just a little messy dealing with the bones. After a roasted chicken dinner, place the bones in double plastic bags and put in the refrigerator or in the freezer if you don’t want to make it right away. Save all the drippings or juices from the pan and some of the chicken. These can be frozen too.
A little note from the Mayo Clinic website. “There’s no cure for the common cold. But if you’re sick, chicken soup may help you feel better. Researchers say that chicken soup acts as an anti-inflammatory and temporarily speeds up the movement of mucus through the nose. This relieves congestion and limits the amount of time viruses are in contact with the lining of your nose. Plus, soup and other liquids help loosen congestion and prevent dehydration.”
Chicken Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced small
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or chopped very small
- 5 crimini mushrooms, diced small
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or light olive oil*
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 zucchini,diced (sliced zucchini blossoms are also wonderful in this soup)
- 1 handful of fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
- kernels from 2 ears of corn
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano, roll to a powder with palms of hands
- chicken stock (below)
- leftover juices from roasting chicken, chilled and fat removed
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 1/2 cups leftover roasted chicken, cut or torn in small pieces
Instructions
Sauté onions and mushrooms in the oil for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except the rice and chicken. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add rice and chicken. Heat and serve.
*Trader Joe’s Trader Grotto’s Sicilian (cold pressed) Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a blend of three olives from Sicily, packaged in Italy in a beautiful bottle. It’s light and delicious. Store it in the dark and use up within a month.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
- bones of 1 roasted chicken (leave some of the meat on the bones and the skin for flavor)
- 2 carrots, not peeled, cut in half
- 2 celery stalks with leaves, cut in half
- 1 onion, not peeled, quartered (the peel gives the stock a nice color)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 medium or one large bay leaf
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- enough water to cover bones
Instructions
Place the bones with the remaining ingredients in a heavy pot and fill pot with cold water until everything is just covered. Bring to a boil and watch for scum floating to the top and skim it off (if you have a really quality bird, there won’t be any) Then lower heat and simmer gently for one to two hours, skimming off any more particles that come to the surface. Strain the stock using a large pasta strainer into a large pot or bowl and throw the bones and vegetables away. Cool the stock or continue with recipe. If you are making it ahead of time and refrigerate it, the fat will rise to the top and is easy to remove.
