Chicken Soup

Are you up for a mini theme? We are! We are starting a mini theme all about soup. Spring is nearing but we are still in the cold and flu season and the weather is still nippy so we’re going to look at some comforting healing soups to make you feel comfy and cozy.

We’re first going to focus on vegetable and brothy soups, if that makes sense. These soups are the comfy soups that make you feel better when you are sick or just need a warm pick me up.

These types of soups include Minestrone, Chicken Noodle, Vegetable, Italian Wedding, Beef Barley, Chicken with Rice.

We’ve made a very easy chicken soup for you and included a couple other recipes so take a look and try them out!

I’m always up for a chicken vegetable soup and I have tried many out, but I think I've concocted the best one yet.

For this chicken noodle and vegetable soup, you will need...

6 chicken breasts

1 ¼ tsp. of pepper

1 tsp. of salt

1-2 tbsp. of olive oil

1 large onion

1 clove of garlic

8 cups of chicken broth

2-4 cups of water

5 celery stalks (try using the leafy parts if possible)

5 carrots

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp. of dried thyme

1 tbsp. of fresh parsley

1 tbsp. of lemon juice

2tsp. of my secret ingredient (look below for more details)

First of all, bake your chicken breasts in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Set aside. All I did was rub a little olive oil on these and sprinkled some salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is out and cooling a bit, then cut up the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and set aside. Chop up the parsley and set that aside for later as well.

Now rip up the chicken and put it in a large bowl.

Warm your stock pot up on medium heat. Drizzle in the olive oil.

Cook the onion and garlic until browned.

Then add in the carrots and celery and cook until slightly softened.

Add the thyme stir and then add the chicken in and thoroughly mix up everything. Then add in your broth and water.

Add in your bay leaves.

Now here is the secret ingredient. Instead of adding in salt and pepper, I decided to try adding Seasoning Salt which made the soup much more flavourful.

Bring the soup to a boil and then let it simmer for 30-45 minutes at least.

While the soup is simmering, you can cook your noodles. I would suggest breaking the noodle in half, or even smaller, before cooking so they are easier to pick up with a soup when eating. Set the noodles aside and then add to the bowls right before you eat the soup. The heat from the soup will warm up the noodles if they have cooled down. If you don't want noodles, you can also use little shells or macaroni’s or you can even throw in some Quinoa which I have done many times before. Just follow the instructions on your Quinoa package and then add in to the soup near the end of cooking.  

So once the soup has boiled and simmered, you can add in the lemon juice and parsley and then stir that up. Let it cook for 10 more minutes and then taste and adjust your seasonings.

Take out the two bay leaves and then serve!

Although we didn’t make it, take a look at my Minestrone soup and give it a try. It’s super light and full of vegetables and it’s a perfect paring with your favourite Italian meal.

Minestrone Soup

1 small onion

3 cloves of garlic

3 carrots

3 stalks of celery

1 ½-2 cups of chopped up green beans

1 zucchini diced

1 can (16 oz.) of diced tomatoes

4 cups of broth

2 cups of water

1 can of kidney beans

1 cup of uncooked pasta mini pasta shells

1 tsp. of oregano

2 tbsp. of fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

Chop onion and garlic and sautee in olive oil in your stock pot.

While that’s cooking, chop the carrot and celery and add to the browned onions and garlic. Cook until a bit softened then add the zucchini and green beans in to soften and brown a bit.

Add in the tomatoes.

Stir in the water and broth.

Add in the bay leaf, oregano, and the fresh basil.

Bring to all boil. Now if you plan on adding the uncooked pasta directly to the soup to cook, then you’d put that in now. I usually pre-cook the pasta and either add it to each bowl or add it to the soup near the end of cooking.

Once boiling, add in the kidney beans. You don’t want to do this too early as the beans may get mushy.  Allow the soup to simmer for about 35 minutes. That should give the veggies enough time to soften and for the pasta to cook it you’re cooking it in the soup.

Remove the bay leaf and serve!

Roasted Vegetable Soup

This is a “wing it” sort of soup. You can pick which ingredients that you like best and how much of them depends on the pot that you use and how much you want to  make.

The broth should be the first step as you want it to simmer a lot before you eat it. If you are adventurous and have time, you can make your own broth or if you want something quick, just pick some up at the grocery store.

If you making homemade broth, you can use leftover turkey or chicken bones add in a few stalks of celery, a couple carrots, and an onion all chopped up in larger chunks. Add some garlic in if you like, cover with water, and allow it to simmer for 4-6 hours. If you don’t have chicken or turkey bones on hand, then you can roast some chicken backs, legs, or wings (the more bony pieces), a pound or two should do, in the oven. Then put them in your stock pot and add in the same celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and water. Simmer for the same 4-6 hours.

You can also use chicken broth from the store. I’m thinking 8-10 cups will be enough; it all really depends on your pot though. I’m basing things off average stock pot size. You can add in a little water too if you want it to be less concentrated. For more flavour you can add in the chopped celery, carrots, onion, and garlic and allow some simmer time for that.

The next step is to cook your veggies. Find some root vegetables that you like. Some good ones are carrots, parsnips, yams/sweet potatoes, potatoes, and butternut squash. Chop them up into bite sized chunks, toss in some olive oil and salt and pepper, and then spread them evenly on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Again, make as many as you want. You can make a big cookie sheet full or a couple cookie sheets. Base it on the amount of broth you’re making and wanting to use up and the amount of people you’re serving.

Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for roughly 30 minutes. Once the vegetables have been roasting for 30 minutes, then add on top some chopped up onion and garlic. You don’t want to start off by cooking roasting these with the others vegetables as they might get super soft and over coked.

Roast all of the vegetables for another 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them so they don’t get overcooked. If you like your veggies darker and softer then add on more time. On the other hand, if you like them softer and lighter, then you may want to take some cook time off.

When the vegetables are roasted to your liking, scoop some into bowls and the cover with the broth. If you want a slightly heartier soup, then you can add some shredded chicken into it otherwise serve and enjoy. It’s that easy!