Fresh Chicken Vegetable Soup
Fresh Chicken Vegetable Soup
This beautifully colorful soup is what I make when I'm feeling the need for immunity and strength to help me keep from getting a virus or the flu. With the flu being such a problem this year it seems like we all might need a lot of this. Good thing it's super tasty! But not only that, it just makes you feel good.
It's full of bright color and flavor, that means healthy. It has zinc from the garbanzo beans and loads of vitamins from the dark leafy arugula, carrots other veggies. I'm not a nutritionist but several of them agree with me when I say there really is something in chicken soup to help you stay healthy and strong through the flu season.
I start the soup by sauteing the aromatics in 2 tablespoons of butter.
Add the chicken stock, chili flakes, grated ginger, bay leaves, thyme and 2 whole skinless bone-in chicken thighs and bring to a low boil then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
The Leftover Queen:
This is some Leftover Queen action. Soup is about leftovers usually and this soup is no different. I love to make enough chicken so that I will have leftovers for a quick lunch or in this case, some immunity boosting chicken soup. I really only needed 2 thighs for this recipe and my husband wanted the others for himself for lunch so I removed the skin from 2 of the thighs and then put the whole plate into the toaster oven to reheat the chicken and crisp the skins I had removed from the 2 thighs I put into the soup.
The crispy skin pieces made a tasty fun garnish for the soup later on!
The next step is to remove the chicken from the soup and let it cool slightly, then remove the meat from the bones and replace it into the soup.
After the chicken has been boned and placed back in the soup, I add a can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, the fresh baby arugula and sliced radishes.
Bring the soup back up to a high simmer for about 5 minutes to warm it through, then taste test for salt and pepper. Remove the thyme sprig and bay leaf and it's ready to be served!
I hope this post finds you and yours healthy, happy and warm!
Cheers!
~Melisa
Fresh Chicken Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
8 cups chicken stock
2 roasted chicken thighs, skin removed
1 large sweet onion chopped
5 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
2 large carrots sliced
6 ribs of celery sliced
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms (about 2 cups)
4 cups baby arugula
4 sliced radishes
1 can garbanzo beans
1- 2 teaspoons chili flakes
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
salt and pepper
Method
Melt the butter in a large stock pot and saute the sweet onion, carrot, celery, and garlic until translucent. Add the mushrooms about half-way through the saute.
Add the chicken stock, chili flakes, grated ginger, bay leaves, thyme and 2 whole skinless bone-in chicken thighs and bring to a low boil then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
Remove the chicken from the soup and cool slightly then remove the meat from the bones and return it to the soup.
Add one can of garbanzo beans that have been rinsed and drained, the arugula and radishes and bring the soup to a high simmer for 5 minutes.
Taste test for salt and pepper then remove the thyme sprig and bay leaf to serve.
