Ugg, winter weather is upon us here in mid-Missouri. The only bright side is that it's soup season! I "healthed"-up a traditional chicken noodle soup recipe by using whole wheat noodles and twice as many veggies. My husband had no idea there were whole wheat noodles in it. I also added parsnips which have a very mild flavor and provide some extra vitamin C and other nutritional goodies. The key to getting my kids to eat the soup sans complaining is chopping the veggies and chicken very finely. A food processor works for the fine chopping. Don't forget to freeze half of this soup and pull it out for an easy weeknight dinner at a later date. Enjoy!
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Makes: 8 servings
2 T olive oil
3/4 cup onion, chopped
3/4 cup celery, chopped
about 64 oz. organic chicken broth
3/4 cup parsnips, peeled and chopped
3/4 organic carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cups uncooked whole wheat egg noodles (I used Hodgson Mills egg noodles)
2-3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped* (I used Smart Chicken because it's hormone-free, antibiotic-free)
½ tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste (I used 3 pinches sea salt, and 18 twists of fresh ground pepper)
In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium to med-high heat. Throw onion, celery, and garlic in pot and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, chicken, parsnips, carrots, bay leaf, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer for about 10-12 minutes. Then, put in noodles and extra water that is needed and cook for about 6-8 minutes (or however long the package instructions say to cook them), watching to make sure noodles don’t get overcooked.** Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning as needed.
**If you plan to freeze this recipe, be sure to under cook your noodles by a few minutes.
By far the worst part about cooking so much...
ht: Kelley Wampler (for original recipe before my changes)
Sounds easy enough for ME to make. Thanks for the idea. : )
ReplyDeleteOh, by the way... have you ever heard of a produce coop before? My sister told me about one in Utah, and I was wishing we had something like it out here. Here's the link http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/. She pays $15 a week and they deliver her A TON of garden grown produce once a week. I thought it was pretty amazing! Do they do this in Missouri?
Kara,so glad you mentioned a co-op. My friends and I are going in on one soon! It should help me a lot with 1) saving $ and 2) trying new, fresh, local produce. Can't wait to blog about the experience! I'll post the info once I get more.
ReplyDeleteWe, too, make this great soup! I throw a few garlic cloves in to beat the winter colds/flus! Also, we freeze it in small Ziploc containers so I can pull out if one of my boys feels yucky or if I want a quick lunch for my hubby or me!
ReplyDeleteCousin Rachel,
ReplyDeleteSaw your blogspot and love it. I too try to cook, grow and eat organic for my family. We are part of an organic coop. We started it with some friends and it has grown thru word of mouth to about 15 families. We work with a local organic vendor who supplies restaurants and businesses in the area. We use free online software to place our orders. We order cases of fruits and veggies to split. The online system helps coop members order what they want and creates invoices. It's really slick. We've learned a lot in the past year doing it.
Keep up the blog.
Sarah (Bennett) Bole