Chicken Soup with vegetables
This is a fast and easy soup to assemble. Perfect for lunch or dinner. The secret is having a freezer full of homemade chicken stock – in quart containers. Nothing is better than homemade soup, full of vitamins and a nutrient-dense “bone” broth – to fix what ails you!
Ingredients
- 2 quarts of homemade chicken stock
- 1 15 oz can of white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 5 carrots
- 1 large yellow onion
- 5 ribs of celery
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 oz bag of baby kale or baby spinach leaves
- 1 quart of chicken meat cleaned and cubed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel the carrots and trim and discard both the tip and stem ends. Chop the carrots into neat ¼ inch dice.
- Trim and discard any brown celery ends. Then chop into a similar dice as the carrot.
- Remove and discard the two ends of the onion and the outer papery layers, and then chop in the same size dice as the other two vegetables.
- Place a heavy bottom soup pan over medium heat, add the olive oil, and then the diced vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir to coat the vegetables and cook until they are wilted and softened but not browning.
- Add the canned tomatoes with juice.
- Drain and rinse the beans, and then add them to the pot.
- Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil.
- Add the fresh baby Kale or spinach and stir into the mix.
- Add the chicken meat.
- Add the parsley
- Serve with some grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
Store-bought rotisserie chickens are a nice shortcut for preparing the chicken meat for the soup. I bring the chicken home from the store and remove all the meat from the bones, trimming off any tendons, skin, and vascular bits and pieces. I separate the dark and white meat and refrigerate or freeze it until ready to use. Save all the skin, bones, cartilage, and trimmings for making stock or "bone" broth. I put them into a freezer bag until I have a sufficient (typically three chickens) supply to make a stock.