Chicken Vegetable Soup

One of the top food and nutrition trends that I think is worth making a habit of in 2017 - soup! I have huge love for soup and one pot meals in general. It's an easy way to load up on vegetables and get 2 or 3 food groups in a bowl. Soup is also a great way to minimize waste by using veggie scraps to make stock and to clean out the crisper using up fresh produce before it goes bad. With so much nutrition in one pot and the option to batch cook and freeze for later meals, soup is a no-brainer.

This basic chicken soup recipe can easily be adjusted by adding any of your favourite vegetables to the mix. The recipe uses whole food forms for maximal flavour and nutrition density. I truly hope you come to love making and eating soup as much as I do!

Ingredients

3 bone in, skin on, raw chicken breasts

1 tbsp Camellia oil (I use Three Farmers’ product)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, diced

3 medium carrots, peeled and diced

4 medium potatoes, diced into small cubes leaving the skin on

8 cups water

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons ground thyme

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Step one

1) Bake the chicken breasts at 350F for about 20 minutes or until cooked (I prefer to work with cooked chicken over raw). Let cool, then take the skin off and discard. Remove all the meat from the bones and set aside. Throw all the bones into a large pot.

2) Add 8 cups of water to the bones along with your freezer veggie scraps (essentially use 1/2 a large Freezer Ziploc bag filled with the ends of onion, celery, carrots, broccoli, wilted kale leaves etc.). If time is of the essence, you may also use a pre-made, store-bought chicken stock (one of my favourite brands is Pacific).

3) Add the bay leaf, 1 tsp of thyme and salt and pepper to the stock pot. Bring your bones and veggie scraps to a boil, then cover and simmer at least 1 hour (ideally stock would simmer at least 3 hours but we’re all strapped for time, right? If you have the time, let it simmer longer!).

4) In the meantime, cut your chicken into small cubes. Set aside.

5) After an hour or more, strain your stock using a sieve into a large container or mixing bowl. Set aside.

Step Two

1) In a large soup pot, heat the camellia oil and salute the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and potatoes a few minutes. An extra virgin olive oil would also work, but for this soup I prefer the stronger flavour of Three Farmers’ Camellia oil.

2) Add the cooked, cubed chicken and your stock and bring to a boil.

3) Once boiling, reduce the heat and add the second teaspoon of ground thyme, parsley, salt and pepper.

4) Cover and let simmer about 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through.Then serve it up!

Keep warm this winter and Happy 2017!