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!
