When there is so much bad weather across the country there is only one thing to do….make soup!! And vegetable soup is my favorite. This posting is a real challenge for me because, although I’ve made vegetable soup many times, I’ve never used a recipe. So this time I made it and took notes and this is what I ended up with. I don’t think you can mess up vegetable soup if you keep things basic, but with a few easy techniques, it can be an amazing meal.  I only served this recipe to three people and two of them told me it was the best vegetable soup they have ever eaten! I was the third and I agree! Enjoy!

Chicken and Vegetable Soup Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
48 oz chicken broth (low sodium)
2 cloves Garlic(minced)
1 Celery stock (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 can whole tomatoes (14.5 oz can) – (chopped)
1 cup frozen peas, corn and green beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbls crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
Optional, but important: 1 tbls Morton’s Season Salt

Chicken and Vegetable Soup Method:

I am making the short version of this soup by using chicken broth. If you want to be adventurous, simmer a small chicken in a pot of water for 2 hours, pull the chicken out of the pot and let cool. Strain the broth and reserve the liquid and cool the chicken and pull the meat and replace for the chicken breast in this recipe. I did a poach on 2 chicken breast because it’s much quicker and does not compromise the taste.

Poach the chicken breast in a pot or pan by covering it and simmering for about 30 minutes or until the breast is 165 internal temp.

While the chicken is cooking cut up the  vegetables. I like traditional vegetable soup ingredients so I use celery, carrots, and onion. (Use what you like!)

I start by adding 1 tbls olive oil to a dutch oven on medium/high heat then adding the celery, carrots and onion. I sweat the vegetables on medium heat until the onions are clear. This is key to this dish: add the crushed red pepper and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add the chicken broth. Cook for 20 minutes on medium heat.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove it and let cool for a few minutes and chop into similar size as the vegetables and add all of the remaining ingredients including all frozen vegetables.  Cook for 15-20 minutes, add Morton’s salt and pepper. If you like a more creamy soup you can run an immersion blender through the soup for a minute , but I like it chunky with a bite!

Ciao! Mike.