Quickish Homemade Soup, customizable, amendable … You can do it!

The lucky ones among us (including me) are riding this quarantine out with the biggest problem being access to our regular variety of foods and overcoming boredom with the ingredients we do have. Or scrimping on the grocery budget because things are tight and/or uncertain (I’ve been there for sure).

Soup is one of those dishes where once you learn it, you can’t unlearn it. If you repeat the process a few times a week like I have, you become comfortable with ad libbing based on what’s in the fridge and pantry.

Below is my process for chicken veggie noodle soup.

The most important ingredient in all this and in a great portion of things, has, and always has been, your confidence and love.

So I encourage you to read through this and give it a shot. Read some other soup recipes to get an understanding of the process. And remember, as long as you don’t burn it too terribly (if in doubt, stir), it can be recovered by adding in a bit of commercial soup from the pantry😁

Ingredients/walk-through for chicken-veg-noodle soup
**2 big chicken breasts, precooked and shredded (best is cooked covered with olive oil, light salt, any fresh herbs and water almost covering it in a glass pan at 375F for about 45-60 mins then shredded w 2 forks and let sit in the water while you slice and cook vegs)

**Pot vegs: Cut these to whatever size you want, but I like em big. These are going in a big stew pot on the stove with olive oil (or butter or both) on medium heat until they're tender. Al dente is OK too. You can have these precut or even use leftover veggies from another dish)
*At least 3 big carrots or half a bag of babies
*At least 2-3 stalks celery
*1-2 sweet Vidalia onions, quartered
Optional: peppers, other root vegs like parsnips, even broccoli. Potatoes but cut them really small or cook in the microwave ahead of time. Do not add garlic in this step or it will be a little bitter.

**Seasoning items (put these aside, mise en place, and have olive oil or about two TBSP of butter and a wooden spoon handy. This is essentially a roux/thickening component. )
*2-4 TBSP flour… if you don’t have flour right now use baking mix or corn meal or cornbread mix! More starch = more thick. Make sure you add enough oil/butter to work this in later.
*Any amount or type of seasoning you fancy. I recommend a splash of old Bay or a poultry seasoning + salt, any amt of garlic and onion powder
*2-5 garlic cloves, sliced thin or or pressed or whole cloves, add more if it makes you happy or if you are afraid of vampires

**Get some chicken broth and water, about 8 cups, handy. Bouillon cubes (about 2) can either get mixed in with the water or crushed and added in with your seasoning items

**Ok. So you have a pot of tender veggies on the stove.

**Add a little olive oil, stir with your wooden spoon.

** Here is where the magic happens:

Make a little hole in the middle of the pot and add olive oil/butter. Let it get hot. Dump your seasonings on top of the hot oil. Let it sit for about 2 seconds then stir and coat the veggies with the mixture. The next minute or two might feel really long, but...

Be patient. The flavor happens the longer you let the flour brown. Keep stirring. You can add a little can of tomato paste here if you want. You can add a splash of vinegar or soy sauce or ketchup here too.

Ok. There is some browning. It smells like Martha Stewart’s third country home. You question your judgment, but the heavenly smell will validate moving to the next step. Don’t burn this or you will have to add commercial tomato or squash soup and top with cheese to cover your "mistake." If you burn it to carbon black, however, it is ruined. It’s ok if it smells more like Olive Garden now.

**Slowly pour about a cup of water in, maintaining the simmering. Do this with as much water as you want to add. But maintain the simmer.

**Then add the cooked chicken and the water you cooked them in. Precooked potatoes if you didn't add them earlier.

**Simmer until you're happy with the smell and texture. As little as 10 minutes. Add a little more water and some egg noodles if you want. Add some precooked sticky rice if you want.

This recipe is a pain to do the first time, but you can also Google Bobby Flay and chicken noodle soup and get a good explainer recipe. Here is another great place to start for the basics on soup.

Happy cooking!!! Hope you are well and staying safe♥️

Miranda