Its Chicken Soup Season!

Only the birds are surviving this winter weather.  Everyone else I know is either sick or has a loved one that is sick, so I thought I would share a basic chicken soup recipe then add variations, for those of you who have been sick for awhile and are getting tired of regular chicken soup.

I make chicken soup every time I buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store.   We have one or two meals from the chicken, pulled off the bones and the rest goes for the soup.  I do take time to remove the bones after the soup is made as my boys, including my husband, doesn't like to worry about the bones.  That way they can inhale the soup without worry!

Basic Chicken Soup
1 TBSP Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 chicken carcass, with a fair amount of scraps left on the bones
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP black peppercorns
1 package of frozen classic mixed veggies
2 cups cooked, small size pasta, or rice.

Add the oil, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and salt in a stock pot and sauté and let the onions sweat a bit, until tender.  Then add the chicken carcass, black pepper and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.  I then add the mixed veggies and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.  Before I serve the soup I place a small amount of pasta or rice in a bowl.  I don't cook the pasta or rice in the soup because it gets mushy. Always cook it separately.

Now, you can make variations upon the recipe above:

Thai Chicken soup:
 Add 2 more cloves of garlic, 2TBSP of minced fresh ginger, with the onion carrot and celery. Add Hunan chile with the stock and substitute one can of lite coconut milk for half the water. You can also add mushrooms & kefir lime leaves for even more umami.

Mexican Chicken Soup
Add 1 TBSP chili powder to the vegetables at the start of the recipe, right after the onions are tender.  Then add a can of black beans and 1 cup of medium salsa and 1 can of diced tomatoes to the soup with the water. Reduce the water to 4 cups. I also add a bag of frozen corn and sprinkle fresh chopped cilantro when serving.

Lemon Saffron Chicken Soup:
Same recipe as above but add 1/2 fresh lemon to the pot, 1/2 TSP Saffron threads and 1 TSP Turmeric and simmer.  It gives it a bit of an Indian flare. I have even added 1 lb. of diced Swiss Chard  to this as well. Glorious and healthy.

Korean Chicken soup:
Add 1 cup chopped mushrooms, 1 TBSP diced fresh ginger, 2 Cloves garlic at the beginning with the onion & veggies, then add  1/2 cup of soy sauce and 2 TBSP Fish sauce to pot with the water, reduce the water to 5 cups.  In a separate pan, cook some rice noodles and when serving, place rice noodles in the bottom of the bowl, add soup then sprinkle fresh basil, bean sprouts and 1 TSP sesame oil.  Yummy!