Thursday, March 24, 2016

Homemade Chicken Soup!

chicken soup, bone broth, clean eating, comfort food, healthy eating, 21 Day Fix, chicken noodle soup, mirepoix
Nothing says comfort food like a good old fashioned chicken soup!  And what I love about making soup is that it is probably the easiest meal to cook, and it's a great way to use up your veggies before they go bad.   The base of many soups are pretty much the same - onions, celery and carrots.  They call this a mirepoix (pronounced meer-pwah).  Making the stock just takes some meat with bones, so after Thanksgiving you can take the carcass of the turkey with the bones and all and just throw it on in the pot and cover with water.  The same can be done with a bone-in ham or a whole chicken.  Super easy and you won't waste anything!!  And of course, we all know the healing affects of a homemade chicken soup - or maybe it's just that it reminds us of Mom!  I love to serve soup to my kids because I know they love it and it's a great way for me to make sure they are eating their protein and veggies.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of diced celery (approximately 4 stalks)
2 cups of sliced carrots (approximately 4 medium sized carrots)
2 cups of diced onions (approximately 2 medium sized onions)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 whole parsnip peeled.
4 cups of organic low sodium chicken stock
6-8 chicken leg drumsticks
6 cups of water
Himalayan salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
2-3 bay leaves
half a bunch of flat-leaf parsley chopped
brown rice or whole grain noodles (optional)
Makes approximately 14 ONE cup servings.

21 Day Fix portions: 
1 cup = 1/2 GREEN, 1/4 RED, 1/2 TSP, 1/2 YELLOW (if adding rice or noodles)

DIRECTIONS:
Step 1:  Chop the vegetables.
 
Step 2: Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to an 8 quart pot.  When hot, add in the onions, carrots and celery and cook on medium until sweated.  At this point, I like to add fresh cracked pepper, and some Himalayan salt.

Step 3: Form a well with the vegetables and place the whole, prepared chicken in the pot and brown on both sides. (Note: I have updated this recipe to use chicken drumsticks instead of a whole roaster chicken.  I find it much easier to de-bone the legs than the entire chicken and it makes a tastier broth)

Step 4: Cover with 4 cups of prepared organic, low-sodium chicken stock, and then add 6 cups of water, or enough to completely cover the chicken.  Add in the whole peeled parsnip and bay leaves. Cook on low for at least 2 hours.  If it starts to boil, turn the heat down to simmer.

Step 5: Remove the chicken from the pot, let cool slightly so not to burn your hands.  Remove the skin, tear off the meat in big chunks.  The meat should just fall off the bone - that is a good indicator that you've cooked it long enough.  Discard the skin and bones.  Return the meat to the pot.  At this point, if you want, add whole grain noodles or brown rice, and continue to cook on low until rice or noodles are cooked all the way through.  Remove bay leaves and add in chopped parsley. ENJOY!!   When the soup has cooled, you can store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

No comments:

Post a Comment