Healthy & Delicious Soup Recipes!

I think the frigid weather is the reason why we all want to make soup this weekend! I'm making homemade chicken soup tomorrow. Here is what I do:

Roast a 7-9 lb. roasting chicken, seasoned with olive oil, Thyme, Rosemary, Onion and Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper. Eat half with your family and then take what remains - skin, bones, remaining meat and any juices from the roasting pan and put in a large stock pot. Cover with water and add 1-2 bay leaves, 10 peppercorns. Bring to a boil and then turn low enough to just simmer for two hours covered loosely (not tightly). DO NOT SEASON WITH SALT YET!

Remove carcass from broth and strain remaining liquid into another stock pot. Set chicken aside to cool and then pick all the meat off the bones, tearing into bite size chunks. Don't make it too small as it continues to shred in the broth. It always amazes me how much chicken I get off the carcass. Set meat aside.

If you have the time, cool and refrigerate the broth and then skim hardened fat off the top. If you are in a rush, you can still skim fat off the warm broth with a large spoon. A little fat will add more flavor so leave a small amount in the broth.

Next, chop 3 large stalks of celery and 1 large sweet onion and add to the broth. Peel 4 large carrots and cut into rounds and add to broth. Add additional Thyme, Rosemary and dried Dill. Simmer until the vegetables are almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add 1 cup of rice or ditalini pasta to the broth. Simmer for however long it takes to cook the rice or pasta (I prefer rice because pasta can get soggy when reheated). Finally, add the shredded chicken and heat through. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. If you added too much water to the soup, you can always add a chicken bouillon cube.

I love getting two or more meals out of a chicken! Roasting the chicken first creates a richer broth and better soup than using a raw chicken boiled in a pot.

This makes at least 6 generous bowls of soup if not more. Enjoy!