Seriously, we are snowed in. I am looking out the French doors at a four foot snow drift. No one would know that there was a garden path and kitchen garden under all this snow!
When will this ever melt?
After shoveling our a**** off and still not making a dent in the drive, I came in and made chicken soup. I did stock up before the snow hit, so I was able to throw something together.
This is what I came up with. I think it is worthy of keeping.
Chicken Soup with Veggie Noodles
Poach chicken breasts:
2 chicken breasts
2 cups chicken stock
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 bay leaf
sea salt and ground pepper
Bring chicken in broth (with garlic, bay leaf, and salt and pepper) to a boil, cover and simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and done.
Prepare veggies and rest of soup:
2 T. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 carrots, grated
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
1/4 t. gray sea salt
1/4 t. fresh ground pepper
1 Yukon gold potato, grated
juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 T.)
32 oz. chicken stock
handful of dried shiitake mushrooms
1/3 c. dried julienned tomatoes
4 cipollini onions, peeled and quartered (I just threw these in to get rid of them!)
1 T. dried parsley (The freeze-dried kind is best. Obviously, though, fresh is best. Use it if you have it!)
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil. Add onions and cook for about 4 minutes until soft (do not brown). Add carrots and celery, season with salt and pepper and cook about 4 more minutes. Add potato and lemon juice and stir.
Add chicken stock, dried mushrooms, dried tomatoes, cipollinis, and parsley. Stir. Heat to boiling.
Remove chicken breasts from poaching liquid; strain poaching liquid and add to soup pot. Chop chicken and add to pot.
When pot boils, reduce to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.
I served this with some great herbed flat bread that I made yesterday.
I started to add noodles to this soup, but then the veggies looked so nice grated. I used the grater attachment on my Cuisinart, so the potato and carrots came out in nice long strips. I wish I would have had a lone zucchini to throw in. (Hmmm—actually, I think I have some grated zucchini frozen in the freezer. I will throw that in when I reheat this for tomorrow’s lunch.)
