Today on my stove there will be a pot simmering that looks much like this photo above. Mmmm. Chicken soup. Does it get any better? (Save for those who are vegetarians, of course.)
My neighbor Angela made this delicious soup over Christmas, and having had a bowl or three of it, I had to come home and recreate. I've done so twice, and I will be honest with you: I could live on this. Just ask Dan when we hit Day 4 of leftovers.
The kids won't touch it. The girl is a vegetarian. The boy is selective. But me? I could swim laps in the stuff.
It's very, very basic and you can zooch it up any way you like, but here's my favorite (and pretty dang healthy) chicken soup recipe.
Sheldon Street Chicken Soup
THE BROTH
1 whole chicken + one chicken breast (I get mine from Whole Foods)
4-5 stalks of celery, cut up, tops included
4 carrots, cut up
1 large yellow onion, cut up, with skins on
4-5 cloves garlic, smashed
8 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS: Put everything in an 8-quart stock pot, cover with water, bring to boil and then down to a simmer for 2 to 3 hours. Skim off fat if you like (I generally don't.) Remove the chicken, pull off all the white meat and shred. Shred extra breast meat as well. Set shredded chicken aside.
Return as many bones as possible to the pot, and simmer another 30 minutes to an hour. Note: I discard the dark meat but if you're a fan, by all means, use it. However, it will add a little to the calorie/point content.
Strain broth and set aside. You can place the broth in the fridge to let the fat harden on the surface and skim off. I leave it as is and set it on the counter while prepping the other ingredients for the soup.
THE SOUP
2 cups chopped yellow onion
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup diced carrots
2 T butter
3 cups shredded chicken breast
2 to 3 cups of cooked wild rice (I used the Broken Bits rice from Whole Foods, from the bulk section)
10 cups of chicken stock
chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS: Heat butter in a large dutch oven or stock pot and sauté onions and celery until wilted, then add carrots and sauté another 3 to 5 minutes until softened. Add chicken stock, chicken, wild rice, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Enjoy this simple goodness!
1 cup of the soup equals 5 points on the new Weight Watchers Points Plus system.
And if you have a cold, it just might make you feel better.
Enjoy!
Thanks again to Angela, my neighborhood food muse and running partner extraordinaire for the recipe.
