lunch:

chicken and vegetable soup

Published 20th June 2017

On a cold Winter’s day when colds are looming, nothing beats a chicken and vegetable soup. It’s warming, hearty, nourishing and you can feel it making you healthy from the inside out.

I have made this soup from chicken stock that was made from leftover roast chicken – making the most of that chicken and minimising waste. If you don’t have a leftover chicken carcass or homemade stock, you can use regular chicken stock.

The beauty of a soup that contains vegetables is that you can pretty much throw in whatever vegetables you have in the fridge and it will still be delicious. This soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4-5 days or it can be frozen for a later date.

 
 
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Soup, and kids, is sometimes a winner and sometimes not. I know for a fact that they regularly have soup at childcare and eat it without complaint, so I always make sure they try some. Claire is usually very receptive and will often polish off a bowl, whereas Mark, depending on the day, will also eat a bowl or might prefer a plate of bits and pieces.

Soups are a dish that traditionally are associated with bread, but often they are more than filling enough that you can quite easily skip the bread. If you’re watching your weight, opt for more soup and less bread, you’ll find that you will be more than full enough with 2-3 ladles of this soup.

Enjoy xx

 
 
 
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Ingredients:

  • 3L homemade chicken stock

  • 2 ½ cups of shredded chicken (leftover from a roast)

  • 1 leek, sliced

  • 1 onion, sliced

  • 2 carrots, diced

  • 2 turnips, peeled and diced

  • 3 celery sticks, diced

  • 1 small zucchini, diced

  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed

  • 2 sprigs thyme

  • 1 sprig rosemary

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 1/2 long red chilli, finely chopped

  • 2 large handfuls of baby spinach, roughly chopped

  • Salt and pepper

  • Flat leaf parsley to serve

 

Method:

  1. Place the chicken stock into a large pot and heat over medium heat.

  2. While the stock is heating, chop all the vegetables and place them into the stock, along with the herbs, garlic and chilli. Bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes, partly covered.

  3. Add the chicken and cook for a further 15 minutes to heat through.

  4. Turn off the heat and add the spinach and salt and pepper to taste.

  5. Remove bay leaves, rosemary and thyme sprigs.

  6. Serve garnished with chopped flat leaf parsley and a slice of bread if desired.