Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Although it doesn’t happen often, there is nothing more frustrating to me than coming down with the common head cold. With just the inability to no longer be able to breathe through my nose, suddenly everything becomes more of a difficult task. Plus, my body aches, my head hurts, I can’t smell or taste anything, and all I want to do is sleep. Sounds pleasant, right!? Well, unless you’re some kind of superhero or living in a bubble, we’ve all been there. When I get sick, all I crave is warm, soothing, liquids. Not only do they provide a sense of home and comfort, but they are also healing.
This soup is my go-to whenever I am coming down with any type of cold. It is packed with vegetables, chicken broth, lemon juice, and flavor to help you heal from your sickness while simultaneously enjoying your meal. It is also incredibly easy to make even when you are sick! To prove it, I did just that. My friend Emily came over and filmed me making this dish for my IGTV channel, cold, sinusy, voice and all. Watch below as you’re cooking!
To do so, I grab whatever vegetables I am feeling like adding to my soup. For this one, it was spinach, carrots, celery, and snap peas. I chop the vegetables and add them to a stockpot along with the chicken broth and water. While I am chopping the vegetables, I make sure to always have a “scrap bowl” on hand to place any vegetable scraps in. This way, at the end of my cooking, I’ll have a bowl of leftover vegetables to use next time I make my homemade bone broth. These scraps would’ve otherwise been thrown out, so it’s also helping with my general food waste, something I’m always trying to improve on.
Once the vegetables are in the pot with the chicken broth and water, add in chopped rosemary and thyme to give the soup that extra comforting flavor. Season the mixture with some additional salt and pepper and add in the chicken breasts. I love to use Butcherbox for this exact reason, I always have free-range and organic chicken on hand in my freezer ready to use whenever I’m in need. Once everything is combined in the stockpot, place it on the stovetop and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower to a simmer for about one hour.
While the soup is cooking, use this time to make the rice. In the video I share a trick that I use when making any form of grain: toasting with ghee prior to adding in the water. Once the soup has simmered for about an hour, remove the chicken breasts and shred, using two forks. Combine the soup, shredded chicken, and rice all together in the pot to create this healing and comforting soup. I promise, next time you are sick this will be the dish to help get you through those extra stuffy and achey flu-induced days.
Chicken and Vegetable Soup
ingredients:
- Chicken breast (2)
- Carrots (4)
- Lemon (2)
- Celery (1 bunch)
- Snap peas (2 cups)
- Spinach (3 cups)
- Chicken broth (6 cups)
- Water (3 ¼ cups)
- Brown rice (1/2 cup)
- Ghee (1 teaspoon)
- Rosemary (2 fresh sprigs)
- Thyme (2 fresh sprigs)
- Salt
- Pepper
instructions:
How to cook Chicken and Vegetable Soup
- Cut the celery and carrots into thin disks and chop the snap peas into small pieces
- In a large pot, add in the chopped celery, carrots, and snap peas with the 6 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water
- Add in the juice of 2 lemons
- Chop the leaves of 1 rosemary sprig and 1 thyme sprig and add to the mixture
- Add a full sprig of rosemary and thyme, still on the branch, to the mixture
- Season this mixture with salt and pepper and stir to combine
- Add the chicken breasts to the mixture
- Place the pot on medium-high heat on the stovetop and bring to a boil
- Once the boil is reached, lower to a simmer and allow to cook, covered, for about an hour
- While the chicken is cooking, make the brown rice
- On a smaller pot, ad 1 teaspoon of ghee and allow to melt
- Rinse ½ cup of brown rice in a strainer, until the water leaving the strainer is clear and not cloudy
- Place the wet rice in the pot with the ghee and toast for about 1 minute, or until fragrant
- Add in the 1 ¼ cups water and bring to a boil
- Once boiling, cook on low, covered, until all of the water has been absorbed by the rice
- After the soup has been simmering for about an hour, remove the chicken from the pot and shred, using two forks
- Add the shredded chicken and the brown rice to the soup and remove the sprigs of rosemary and thyme
- Add the spinach to the soup and stir, allowing it to wilt
- Serve hot and enjoy
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Soy Free