Professional home economist Mairlyn Smith shares another recipe with us that can be done with a tight budget. There are many ways you can make chicken soup and this is what works for Marilyn. Fill it up with your favourite vegetables and seasoning to make it your own! Who doesn’t love some good old homemade chicken soup?
INGREDIENTS
- 1 chicken carcass remove skin to reduce amount of fat in soup
- 2 900 ml Tetra Pak chicken broth
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- celery, carrots and/or onion ends
- 2-3 carrots scrubbed and diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 2 onions diced
- 1 cup mushrooms (optional) wiped and sliced thinly
- 1 cup frozen green vegetables (kale, broccoli and/or peas)
Dried Herbs (replaceable)
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves dried
- 1 cup whole grain (barley, wheat berries, brown rice) cooked
METHOD
Makes 4 generous servings
- In a large pot with a lid, pour chicken broth over the broken carcass, add the vinegar, and any of those vegetable ends. If you don’t have any, no worries.
- Place on high heat. When it comes to the boil, cover and reduce the heat to simmer. Simmer for 2-4 hours.
- Remove from heat. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Place a colander or strainer over a large bowl and gently tip in the liquid and the chicken. When cool enough to handle, pick off all the meat off the bones, discarding the bones.
- Place chicken either in the stock or in a separate container.
- Add 1-2 Tbsp of oil to a large pot. Add carrots, celery, and onion. Sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for an extra minute. Add herbs of choice. Sauté.
- Pour in stock (it will be very jelly-like), add chicken and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the veggies are to your desired softness.
- Add cooked whole grain. (it’s cooked before you add it. I use leftover cooked whole grains. If you add a raw whole grain it will absorb all of the liquid and produce a gummy soup.)
- When heated through, add either a frozen green vegetable like kale or broccoli, I added frozen peas because I love them and I always have them in my freezer.)