For everything that ails you and a for a great, healthy meal to have on hand all week long, try this Chicken Vegetable Soup.  In under 30 minutes, you’ll have a huge pot of soup.

This can be made with any small pasta like orzo or any type of rice or noodle.  I also replace the pasta or rice with potatoes now and then.

There are a lot of vegetables in this soup and you can buy them all separately, but I like to buy the “soup mix”  in the produce section because it has most of the things I use for a soup or stew in one package.

Ingredients:

1 package raw chicken thighs

(You can use a whole cut up chicken or just chicken breasts too. I like the flavor of the thighs.  You can also use 2 packages of chicken if you want a lot of meat in the soup).

2-tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped or 1 large

2 stalks celery chopped

2 cloves of chopped garlic

3 large carrots, peeled and cut into coins

1 turnip, peeled and chopped

1 parsnip, peeled and chopped

4 potatoes cleaned and cut in large cubes (If using pasta leave out potatoes)

49 ounces can Swanson Chicken Broth

2 cups water

2 tablespoons each chopped fresh parsley and dill

Salt, and pepper

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Directions:

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add all the vegetables and herbs and cook for about 5- 10 minutes, or until softened.

Pour in the chicken broth, and add water.  Add the raw chicken to the pot and let soup cook on a low simmer for about 1 hour or until the chicken meat is soft and almost falling off the bone.

Remove soup from heat and carefully remove the chicken parts and place them on a plate to cool.

If there is a lot of oil at the top of the soup just skim it off with a soup ladle and discard.

If adding pasta cook about ½ pound of pasta in separate pot of salted water only till it is al dente’. The pasta will cook and expand more when added to the soup so don’t over cook pasta and don’t rinse the pasta. You can add the cooked pasta to the soup.

Once the chicken meat is cooled you can remove meat from the bone and chop or just peel off with fingers and add to soup, discard the bones. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste.

I also like to serve the soup with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

For variety I add different vegetables like squash (pictured here) or leeks, tomatoes, escarole, cabbage, even beans.

A basic chicken soup is great for the body and the soul. My aunt would add a lemon to the soup when I was sick so if you even get a cold be sure to put the juice of one or two lemons and extra garlic. These act as a natural antibiotic to help fight infection. It is an old Mediterranean trick.

I will be adding lots of soup recipes but please don’t be afraid to add extra veggies and get creative. All you will need to do is make sure you have enough liquid. If you need more liquid, add water and bullion or salt or just extra chicken stock or broth.

The soup will freeze well so be sure to make enough to freeze for the following week.  Just thaw frozen soup in fridge and heat in pot or individual bowls in the microwave.  This recipe will make at least 12 servings.

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