Here on the East Coast, it has been a tough coupla weeks. It has bee below freezing everyday for the last 7 or 8 days. So what does one enjoy eating during these frigid days? Personally, I lean towards soups and stews. It is comfy and just seems to warm the soul.
Growing up, I did not eat a lot of soup. So as I became an adult, soup was not one of my favorite things to eat. Looking back, I can’t honestly say what brought me to start loving soups, but whatever it was, I am grateful.
How do I love thee, soup? There are many reasons. One reason is that soups are usually a combination of my some of may favorite individual ingredients. Onion, garlic, chicken, red pepper, potatoes, chicken stock, thyme, corn, peas etc. And when everything is combined, it becomes a complex flavor profile that meets all my needs. And every time I make my soups, I always make slight adjustments to the amounts of ingredients used so that it is a different dish every time. I admit, that is my favorite and sometime not so favorite thing about cooking: slight adjustments to ingredient amounts can produce a drastic difference in the taste of the dish.
Now, today, I decided to highlight my Chicken Veggie Soup.
While the recipe I am providing here is for the more time consuming version as it uses raw chicken. I did highlight a note that the recipe can be made in less than half the time by using store bought rotisserie chicken and by cutting down the amount of water used from 4 cups used to 2 cups used. The secret in this recipe is the Trader Joe’s Savory Broth Chicken Flavor. I keep several boxes in stock at all times. One of my ultimate fav ingredients ever!!!
Chicken Veggie Soup
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs deskinned
- 1 tbsp salt for the chicken
- 1 tbsp EVOO
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp salt for the onion
- 2 large garlic cloves grated
- 3/4 to 1 tsp dried thyme
- 6 to 8 pouches Trader Joe’s Savory Broth Chicken Flavor
- 32 oz Trader Joe’s Broth Chicken Flavor or other preferred brand
- 3 cups of frozen mixed veggies
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Salt the chicken with 1 tbsp of salt and set aside for about 10 minutes.
- Place the chicken in a pot with 4 cups water.
- Cook for 30 to 35 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
- Pour the remaining chicken stock into a cup and set aside as well.
- In a clean pot, heat the EVOO and add onion.
- Cook until the onion softens and then add .25 tsp salt.
- Continue to cook until the onion is translucent.
- Add fresh garlic and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
- Pour both chicken stocks onto the onion and garlic mixture, together with the thyme and chicken broth pouches.
- Simmer for about 8 too 10 minutes before adding frozen veggies and chicken.
- Continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Your soup is ready. Enjoy as is or with crusty bread.