METHOD Chicken Vegetable Soup Spring is unpredictable - frosty in the morning and hot and sunny by afternoon, or the complete opposite. It's the perfect time of the year for soup made with fresh vegetables. This
Put your chicken into the stock pot and cover with water.
chicken vegetable soup is light and tasty and can be prepared in advance for a healthy, homemade meal that's ready to eat after soccer practice or the perfect lunch for work or school. If you want to cut your preparation time, simply purchase a cooked chicken from your favouite grocer and add three cups of chicken broth. Subsitute with your favourite vegetables and serve it with fresh bread or rolls.
Add a little salt and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a good rolling boil for a few minutes, lower the heat to medium- low. Put the lid on and let it cook for about 2 hours on the stove. Open the pot and check to see how the chicken is doing. When the meat is more tender and just starts to come off the chicken it's time for the next step. Using tongs or another kitchen tool, remove the chicken from the pot and set on a cookie sheet or large plate. The only thing that should be left in the pot is the liquid. While the chicken cools for a couple minutes so you can work with it easier, skim off some of the fat that's accumulated on the surface of the pot. You don't have to remove it all since it does give the soup a great flavour, but if there's a lot you should try to remove some. The amount of fat you have on the top depends on the chicken itself – some are fattier than others. Using a fork and knife, remove as much meat as possible from the chicken and drop it into the pot. Do not need to cut the meat into chunks – let the meat naturally come apart as it continues the cooking process. Make sure that you add the leg bones to the pot along with the meat. The bones are extremely important in making the soup taste perfect. Once all the meat is removed from the chicken you can discard the unused parts. Now add the vegetables, garlic and herbs to the pot. Add some water to the pot until the veggies, etc are covered. Bring to a rolling boil once more for a couple minutes. Lower the heat to about medium-low, cover and let it cook for 2 additional hours. Stir the soup a couple times while it cooks. At the end of cooking, give the soup a taste and add a little more salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook for a couple more minutes and remove the leg bones and bay leaves.
Freeze the leftovers as individual servings that are easy to reheat over a low-medium heat on the stove-top.
INGREDIENTS
6 lb whole chicken (Or 2 small chickens about 3lbs each) 2 C onions, chopped 2 C potatoes peeled and chopped 4 C broccoli chopped 2 C turnip or squash peeled and chopped 6 cloves of garlic, minced 4 C of carrots, chopped into uniform pieces 2 bay leaves 1 tsp dried thyme 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes Water, as needed Additional salt and pepper, to taste
KEEP IT LOCAL Source your ingredients from a local producer. Visit the Farmer's Market, your local butcher and grocer. Local just tastes better!
Once done – Enjoy!
Yield: 10-14 Servings
SPRING 2018 www.pei-living.ca
15
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs