Comfort in a Bowl, Mug or Thermos

Pure comfort is assured, whether you are curling up in front of the fire on a cold, wet, blustery day or spooning it up from a thermos at school or during a football game, or working on enough appetite to get some down while getting over a cold or the flu. Such is the power of chicken noodle soup. Our mothers and grandmothers knew it and the soup manufacturers know it. So do we.

What some don't know is that good chicken noodle soup is fairly quick and easy to make from scratch and then you also know whats in it. Onions and carrots (for this recipe) and sometimes celery and garlic are softened and partially caramelized in some olive oil. Add some broth and diced up chicken breast meat, or chicken thigh if you prefer. Let it simmer while you add freshly ground black pepper, dried thyme and some lemon juice for spark.

Cook some noodles in another pot in chicken broth (to keep a good solid chicken flavor...not water here...and to prevent the noodles from overcooking), then add them and more broth, followed by some frozen peas for color and another flavor burst. That's it. If you have your own homemade chicken stock you are golden, but a good quality canned broth is fine, too. You can skip the peas and it will still be good, but try to add the lemon juice. Think of the blast of Vitamin C in that juice.

If you like you can do what I did and use a head of roasted garlic instead of fresh garlic. I slid each roasted clove out of its skin, then finely diced them all and added them before I added the chicken pieces. The depth of flavor is wonderful this way. I hope that you'll try this before the weather gets warm. We had it yesterday with our friends while the rain came down outside. Just the right kind of weather for chicken noodle soup.


Freshly Made Chicken Noodle Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped or 1 head roasted garlic, cloves peeled and finely chopped
2 cups diced raw or cooked chicken, either breasts, thighs, or a combination
about 42 oz. chicken broth, divided
1/2 lb dry flat noodles (I used the no yolk kind)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
juice of 1 medium lemon, seeds removed
if desired, additional salt to taste
1 cup frozen peas

In a large pot saute' the onions and carrots in the olive oil for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat, cover, and let 'sweat' for 7-8 minutes until soft and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

Add the garlic or roasted garlic, stir and simmer, covered for 2 minutes.

Add the chicken and 1 cup of the broth, stir, cover and simmer 5 minutes.

While the chicken is simmering in the broth, heat 14 oz. chicken broth in a medium pot until boiling. Add the flat noodles, stir, cover, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, until partially cooked.

Add the contents of the noodle pot, the rest of the broth, the pepper, thyme, lemon (salt if using), and peas to the broth and chicken. Stir, cover, and cook over low heat to heat the peas through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Serve and enjoy. Tastes even better the next day.

Soup - Looks the Same..but What a Difference!

I’ve made a vegetable soup, usually spinach, but sometimes broccoli or chard, for years, thickening it with mashed potatoes.

This time I wanted to make it using roasted potatoes and onions, instead of sautéed onions and mashed potatoes that had been boiled. I used the floury kind of potatoes even though I usually use waxy red potatoes in this soup. They really respond well to roasting.

To up the ante on a different taste, I decided to add a little balsamic vinegar to the vegetables to be roasted. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but was game to try it.

Once the soup was finished it looked much the same as the old Spinach and Potato Soup…a rich green, with flecks of potatoes and onions visible. I always leave the skin on, so this is never a smooth puree soup. Once I tasted it I was ecstatic. The roasting and balsamic really brought the potato flavor to the forefront.

Before the spinach was the star. Now the potato was king. The roasting also made this an earthy tasting pottage. The onions are a back note and you don’t really taste the balsamic vinegar as such.

This is the perfect hearty soup for a cold day or evening. We might eat ours by the woodstove tonight, listening to the rain blowing against the windows, chasing the last drops of soup with a chunk of freshly baked cheddar ale bread (which I will post about in the next day or two).


Hearty Potato and Spinach Soup
Serves 2-4

2 large or 2 medium Idaho type potatoes (the floury kind), cut into 1 inch dice
1 medium onion, cut into wedges, about 10 or 12
3- 4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 large colander washed fresh baby spinach leaves (about 8 cups), steamed and chopped or
1 -10 oz. package frozen, chopped spinach, defrosted
2 cans low sodium chicken broth

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a gallon zip lock bag or other large disposable bag, place the potatoes and the onion wedges. Add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Close bag and shake to completely coat the veggies with the oil and vinegar. Turn out onto a foil lined large baking sheet. Spread so that they are in a single layer. Bake for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are browning. Don’t burn the onions. Remove pan from oven. Cool veggies slightly and remove the onion s to a chopping board. Chop the roasted onions to roughly ¼ inch dice.
When cool, turn the potatoes into a saucepan and mash with a fork or potato masher. Add the can of low sodium chicken broth, the onions, and the chopped spinach. Stir to combine. Put into a food processor or blender and blend until soupy, but still a little rough in texture. (May take two batches if doing in a blender.) Return to saucepan, add the nutmeg and warm over low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.

Serve hot, garnished with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle of cayenne.



This soup is perfect for the event No Croutons Required, hosted this month by Holler at Tinned Tomatoes. The theme is using potatoes. Toward the end of February be sure to check out all the entries.

Getting Ready For December

While we were in Seattle, I was reading an advice book written by various women. One wrote about a Weight Loss Soup that seemed very similar to the Weight Watchers One Point Soup that forms the basis for my basic go-to soup. Water or broth based soup can be a great aid for a weight loss program, one to promote good health, or one for comfort. A warm, steaming bowl of fragrant soup is so comforting on a cold December day. It can revive you after a stint in the stores finding that perfect, illusive gift. Best of all, it can be inexpensive and full of good nutrition AND be made ahead, so all you do is reheat it. A quick blast in the microwave and you have a bowl of goodness.

To start off with, you need a good sized pot. A little pot will be OK for a small batch, but then you have to do it all over again. Something that will hold between 8 and 12 cups of liquid is great. Just make sure it fits in your fridge. One with a lid is nice, too.

Next you'll need some ordinary yellow onions. Medium to large ones are great. Avoid ones with obvious mold or bruises. If you have room, get a half dozen. They keep for months in a cool, dark place and are essential in lots of great cold weather dishes.

To use in soup, peel off the papery skin, cut off the root end, cut in half. Use a sharp knife to cut through about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart, then slice the same distance apart. This pretty much dices the onion. A few extra bits of chopping can dice any large pieces.

The illustration below shows how to do the first cuts. After that you just slice down perpendicular to those cuts.

Next you need some celery. Celery is an essential ingredient not only in many soups, but in my stuffing and in most Creole dishes, too. If you don't cook that way or snack on it (celery sticks with low fat peanut butter makes a quick snack), see if you can find a small (or half) version of a head of celery in the store.

To use in soup, wash a few ribs well, cut off the bottom where it attached to the head of celery, then run a knife down the middle of the rib. You can include the feathery leaves, well chopped, or not...it's a matter of taste. Slice the celery about 1/4 inch thick all down the rib. Repeat for the other rib (or two if you like celery).

Garlic can be optional, but I find it a great addition to most soups. You can keep a head of garlic, which looks like a flower bulb with papery white skin, in your cupboard. If you are a "if I have to mince garlic I'll never make soup" kind of person, buy some minced garlic in a jar to keep on hand in the fridge.

To use in soup, if you have a head of garlic, pull off one or two of the cloves - more if you really like garlic - remove the skin, and mince. To remove the skin, lay the garlic clove on a cutting board and smash down with the flat of a large knife (like a chef's knife). This will loosen the skin, so you can peel it right off. To mince the peeled garlic clove, lay it flay and run the knife through it in rows. Keep the knife slashed pretty close together. Turn is a bit and slash againat a 45 degree angle. Then make thin sliced across those slashes to make little squares. If there are any odd large bits, cut them to fine chop.

Broth is the real basis of a good soup. The best is the kind you make yourself. You can simmer a chicken or other poultry and use the liquid you simmered it in as broth (although usually a trip through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer is good to remove unwanted stuff once the simmmering is done), but I usually opt for ease by purchasing canned chicken broth. Plain water is also fine, but comes with no flavor, so you need to make sure to add plenty of flavor by carmelizing the veggies and adding enough herbs and spices.

Soup can take on lots of personalities, depending on what you include in the pot. Just like the kids story of Stone Soup, the character of the soup is improved by the addition of vegetables and legumes, herbs, spices, flavored oils, pieces of meat, fish, or poultry, pasta and/or tofu.

To start out, take you soup pot, add a few tablespoons of grapeseed oil, canola oil, olive oil, or butter. Grapeseed oil can be heated to a high heat level and not create carcinogens the way very hot olive oil can and it doesn't seem to burn like butter will. It's slower but, as an alternate to grapeseed oil, fine to use butter or the other oils and cook the first ingredients over a lower heat.

I like to saute' the onions, celery and garlic over medium-high heat for about 5 - 8 minutes, until the onion is slightly browned, especially on the edges, and transluscent. Often I'll put the onions in first, cook a couple of minutes, then add the celery and garlic, stir, then cook the rest of the way as slightly lower heat. If I'm using just water, I'll use olive oil, turn the heat to medium or medium-low, cook just the onions, stirring often, until they start to brown, then add the celery and garlic and cook another five minutes or so, still at the lower heat. This gets everything a nice medium brown color and that adds lots of flavor to the finished soup.

Once the onions, celery and garlic have cooked, add the broth or water - about 4 - 8 cups, depending on how much soup you want. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the sides and bottom of the pot...again for added flavor.

This is the basic soup base. From here you can go wild.

My usual veggie soup starts with the basic soup base, then I add a can of diced tomatoes in juice, or the equivalent in fresh, seeded and peeled tomatoes. I also add a cup of thinly sliced carrots, 5 or 6 red potatoes, cut in bite sized chunks, and a frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast. Cover the pot and turn low to simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken and keep simmering the soup until the potatoes are cooked. Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning, salt to taste. Dice up the simmered chicken and put it back in the pot. Throw in some (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup each) green beans, peas, corn, and/or spinach. Some zucchini whihc has been sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced is a nice addition, too. Simmer a few minutes, then taste for seasoning.

This soup will keep for 3 -4 days in the fridge. Just reheat and enjoy. A grating of good Parmesan cheese over the top just before serving is a wonderful addition.

There are tons of variations. Here are a few variations:

Ministrone: Take the basic soup and add a can of diced tomatoes. Add at least a cup of pasta. Add a can of cannelli or white beans, some Italian seasonings, and at least a cup of chopped chard, plus some green beans ands some sliced zucchini squash. This one really needs the Parmesan cheese. You can even add a Parmesan cheese rind when you add the broth or water. Tiny meatballs can also be added or some cooked, sliced Italian sausage. Italian flat beans instead of regular green beans is a nice change, too. Be sure to simmer this one until the pasta is cooked.

Chicken Noodle: Take the basic soup, using chicken broth for the liquid. Add 1/2 pound of egg noodles, the thin kind are usual, but fatter will work, too. Add 1/2 cup chopped parsley, a cup or so of diced, cooked chicken, 1 teaspoon dried thyme. Heat until the noodles are cooked. Taste for salt and pepper. Sliced mushrooms can be added when you add the noodles for a different take on this classic soup.

Spinach Soup: Remove the long stems from a 10 oz bag of fresh baby spinach, or similar amount of large leaf spinach. If needed, wash thoroughly. Chop the spinach and add to the basic soup, along with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Cook briefly, about 4 minutes, just to cook the spinach quickly. Taste for salt and pepper. Process half of the soup at a time in a food processor, blender, or with a hand blender if you like a smoother soup. If you like a thicker soup, while the basic soup is cooking, in a separate pot, boil a couple large Idaho potatoes (russets) that you have cut into bite sized pieced. When potatoes are fork tender, drain, mash with potato masher or fork, then stir into the finished soup. Stir to mix. The mashed potatoes will thicken the Spinach Soup like a charm.

More variations will be coming later...imagine what you can do with rice, chicken and black beans; or with chilis, tomato, chicken and tortilla strips, etc.