Saturday, October 15, 2011

Chicken and Vegetable Soup

My hubby came down with a nasty cold so I decided that with all the lovely vegetables that I got from the farmer's market I should make a nice from scratch chicken soup.  I made the stock first, see my prior post, and then just cut up vegetables until I couldn't fit anything else in the pan.  Since the goal was to have lots of veg the quantities are loose and fast.  I was aiming for lots of different colors and lots of different varieties, making sure I had some root veg, leafy green veg and fungi in a balanced mix.  Just keep adding veg until the pot is full and then cover with broth.  You can make lots of substitutions but I can guarantee that this combination is absolutely fab!!  Best soup I've ever made!

Ingredients
serves 2-3

~1c cooked brown rice ( I used Lundberg's Jubilee mix)
~1c cooked chicken meat (this was left over from the broth production)
1/4c coarsely chopped red onion
1-2 cloves crushed garlic (or 1t minced from a jar)
1 stalk diced celery
1 carrot diced
1-2 fistfuls of butternut squash cut into 1/2" cubes
1-2 fistfuls of baby bok choy sliced into 1/4" strips
1 small red potato cut into 1/2" cubes
1-2 fistfuls of crimini mushrooms peeled and quartered
several cups of chicken broth
Celtic sea salt
pepper
thyme
marjoram
several sprigs fresh parley coarsely chopped

  1. Cook rice while chopping the vegetables.  Let the rice fully cook before proceeding.
  2. Put rice and chicken into 2 quart pot.
  3. Cut up vegetables and keep adding until the pot is almost full (about 1" from rim)
  4. Cover with chicken broth.  Add herbs and spices.  Stir.
  5. Simmer until vegetables are are tender about 10-15 minutes.
Okay now for the substitution lists:
Root veg:  white potatoes, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, carrots, parsnips, celery root (celeriac), turnips, jicama, beets (but they will color the stock and everything else: if you use red beets you will end up with pink soup)
Leafy green veg: cabbage, napa cabbage, bok choy, baby bok choy, kale, fennel (if you like the taste), spinach
Other veg: any type of squash, pumpkin, peas, corn, green beans, wax beans, okra, snow peas, cauliflower, eggplant
Fungi: white button mushrooms, crimini (baby bellas), portabellos, shitaki, porchini (buy dried and soak before adding to pot: you can add the soaking liquid but try to keep the grit out of the soup)
Onion: green onion, yellow onion, red onion, shallots, leeks

I try to stay away from cruciferous veg in soups because they can overpower the taste but feel free to add if you like: broccoli, brussel sprouts

Because I didn't soak the rice first this isn't totally WAP legal but if you leave the rice out game on.  Check the veg list in the GAPS book to see if this is GAPS legal and just make the appropriate substitutions.  Personally I'm not yet at that level of picky in my diet.  I might be in the future but I'm still struggling to get in enough broth and fermented foods.  Baby steps.  But in the meantime yummy soup!  

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