Chicken Soup

Just made a big batch last night, thought I'd share.  Beware, this is a huge batch, so you might want to scale it down the first time out to make sure you like it!

Chicken Soup Base, makes 10 generous servings (serving = 3 6-oz soup ladles)

• 2 T Olive Oil
• 3 cups onions, chopped (approx 1 large red, or 2 med yellow )
• 3 cups carrots, chopped (approx 6 medium carrots)
• 3 cups celery, chopped (approx 6 medium stalks)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
• 12 cups (3 boxes) Pacific Brand Organic Free Range Chicken Broth. I specify the brand because it makes ALL the difference. Homemade broth is the only suitable substitute.
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper, to taste

Prep your vegetables (chop onions, carrots, celery and garlic...btw, this is a very forgiving recipe, so if you have lots of carrots or other veggies like zucchini in the fridge to use up, go for it). Add olive oil to large stock pot over medium high heat, let it heat up several seconds then add vegetables and salt. Saute vegetables until onions are translucent (5 minutes or so). Add chicken broth (really, Pacific organic, I'm tellin' ya) and chicken breasts, leaving breasts whole, no need to dice (why worry about contaminating that cutting board?). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for at least an hour. After an hour or so, remove chicken breasts and shred with two forks (or cut into bite sized chunks if you prefer, but we really like the chicken going all throughout the soup). Return chicken to the pot (do I really need to say that?). Check seasonings and adjust if necessary.

That's only the base, which is perfectly wonderful chicken soup as is or with some extra herbs or greens thrown in (spinach, thyme, basil, oregano). But this base can also be used as a foundation for many different kinds of chicken soup. You can modify the whole batch, or modify individual portion as desired. One diner can have the base without embellishment, and another can have spicy chicken tortilla soup.  I typically modify individual servings so I can freeze the base as is, then I can modify as desired when I reheat.  Like most soups, it's better the second time around.

Now then, variations. The additions below are for one serving's worth of broth.

Chicken Noodle Soup. Add 1/2 serving's worth of whole grain (wheat or rice) spaghetti, broken into 1-2" pieces, and 2 T parsley. Of course other small shapes of pasta are also suitable. Watch out for adding too much pasta, it'll increase in volume as it cooks.

Spicy Chicken Soup (my favorite). Add 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp chili powder, and 2T cilantro just before serving. Optional, add one 15 oz can diced tomatoes, or 1 can kidney or black beans, or 1/4 cup brown rice. Top with any combination of the following: crushed baked tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, fresh lime juice.  If adding extras like beans, tomatoes or rice, you'll probably need to add another cup of chicken broth. 

Chicken Barley Soup. Add 1/4 cup hulled (or nutritionally inferior pearled) barley. Just like pasta, it won't look like much, but just wait. Make sure to allow at least an hour for the barley to cook.

Chicken and Rice Soup. Add 1/4 cup brown rice. Make sure to allow at least an hour for the rice to cook. Again, don't let the initial volume of rice fool you. Short on time? Use (nutritionally inferior) white rice and allow 20-30 minutes.

The soup freezes *great*.  If you modify it with grains or pasta you'll need to add another cup of stock or so upon reheating (Pacific sells convenient 4 packs of 1 cup servings for just such an occasion).  I freeze mine in Pyrex containers with plastic lids.  Out of the freezer right into a 300 degree oven (minus the lid. hello?).  Grab some whole grain bread on the way home, call it dinner.

Nutritional stats (yes, that's for a whole generous serving of the base):

• Cals: 113 (from fat 36)
• Total Fat: 4g (sat fat 1g)
• Cholesterol 24 mg
• sodium: 1083 mg
• Carbs: 8g
• Fiber: 2g
• Sugar: 1g
• Protein: 12g
• Vit A: 137%, VitC: 24%, Calcium: 4%, Iron 1%

That's way too much sodium for me!  But I've found a couple of good brands of very low sodium chicken broth at Whole Foods Market, or I could make my own broth. 

It's a nice soup!

That's the stats using the regular Pacific broth.  They also have a low sodium version of their organic free range chicken broth that you'll see at Whole Foods.