New Classic Soup Recipe

I've started making a new -- new to me -- soup recipe since it started getting cold and rainy. Just a basic chicken and vegetable soup -- but I've started adding quick cooking barley at the end to make it a more filling meal. I use the Dutch oven to make it and whatever chicken I have on hand, preferably boneless thighs. I use whole pieces of boneless chicken and shred it right in the soup after it has cooked for a while. Use two forks to sort of stab and shred the larger pieces of chicken after they cook. I prefer mine to cook whole in its own juices before getting separated, but you can always cut up the chicken before adding it. And I prefer a more shredded chicken rather than squarely cut pieces. Also, you can use orzo, egg noodles, macaroni or maybe even rice instead of the barley, or just omit it altogether. The grocery store had canned vegetables on sale before Thanksgiving so I stocked up. You can obviously use fresh veggies rather than canned, though. I would say replace 1 can of veggies with about 2 cups of fresh chopped. When I use canned vegetables I include the juice from the can and then end up using a little less broth. When I use fresh vegetables I tend to add about 2 more cups of broth.

Ingredients & Directions

• 3-4 T. butter
• 1 chopped onion (1-1.5 C.)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1.5 pounds chicken
• 4 T. soy sauce

Heat butter in Dutch oven and saute onion, garlic, chicken, and soy sauce for 10 minutes. Add the following ingredients:

• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped (about 2 C.) or 1 can mixed vegetables
• 1 can green beans (with juice) or 1-2 C. fresh
• 1 can corn (with juice)
• 1 can peas (with juice)
• 1 can diced tomato or 1-2 C. fresh
• 6 to 8 C. of broth

Add those ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for an hour or longer. Use forks to shred the chicken if necessary. Add:

• 8 oz. quick cooking barley

Bring to a boil after adding the barley and then simmer for 15 minutes (according to directions on barley package). 

Yields 6-8 pints.

Simple Chicken & Vegetable Soup

With April just around the corner and the first cookouts of the season in the books, I didn't expect to post a soup recipe, of all things, this week, but here we go. I don't even eat soup very often, let alone make it, but we had a bunch of vegetables around, and the mercury has dipped low this week. With that in mind I bring you the very basics of a simple chicken and vegetable soup. I think it turned out pretty well.

You need 3 basic things: chicken, vegetables, and broth. You'll probably also want tomato paste, spices, and maybe a fat like oil or butter. You put everything in a large pot (or a dutch oven or slow cooker) and simmer for a couple hours. Today I decided just to use what I had on hand, and not to use any added fat. Use a basic ratio of 3 Cups broth, 3 Cups chopped vegetables, 3 Tablespoons tomato paste, and 3 boneless chicken thighs.

Ingredients: 

• For chicken, although I prefer thighs, today I had breasts available, so I used 2 medium chicken breasts, cut small. 
• For veggies, I used 1 banana pepper, half an onion, half of a carrot, 3 garlic cloves, half of a tomato, a handful of green beans, half a zucchini, and I wish I had a can of corn to dump in too. 
• 3 T. tomato paste and an extra cup of broth will help
• oregano, thyme, cilantro, and parsley

Directions:

1. I brought 3 cups of broth to a boil in my Dutch oven, stirred in 3 T. of tomato paste while the broth boiled, then dumped in the chicken and all the veggies (and spices) and put the heat on low. 
2. I cooked it for maybe 3 hours, stirring occasionally. 
3. I shook in a tablespoon or two of shredded Parmesan cheese about an hour before I stopped cooking too, which gave it a great cheesy smell and a bit of creaminess. 

Chopped veggies...

...plus chicken...

...together in broth, makes soup!

Tip: marinate chicken in soy sauce ahead of time, always.