EASY CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP

Here's an easy and delicious recipe for homemade chicken vegetable soup. I've been making this soup for many years. You can make it with or without rice or noodles. We prefer it without. You can vary the veggies according to what you like or what you have on hand. But the tomatoes really make the soup special, so don't leave them out. You might think the ketchup is a weird ingredient, but it adds a special flavor. And you can make this soup with chicken, turkey or even beef if you want.

Easy Chicken Vegetable Soup

Rating: 9 out of 10

INGREDIENTS: 2 Tbsp. Smart Balance or olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 Tbsp. minced or grated garlic

1 quart + 14.5 oz. can low-sodium chicken broth

1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes with liquid

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled

1/2 tsp. dried basil, crumbled

1 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 medium potato, with skin, cut in small chunks

1 cup fresh or frozen green beans

1 cup peas

2 ears fresh corn on the cob, scraped, or 1-1/4 cups frozen corn

3 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken

Optional: 2 cups cooked noodles or rice

In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, over medium heat, saute the onions and celery in the Smart Balance until transparent. Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Turn up the heat and add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, herbs, salt and pepper stirring to combine. Add vegetables; cover pot; reduce heat to a simmer and cook 20-30 minutes or till veggies are just about tender. Add chicken and cook till vegetables are very tender. If using, add cooked noodles or rice during last few minutes, just to heat them through. Taste the soup for final seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed. This makes a large pot of soup, enough for a crowd. Last week, I served a small bowl each to 7 people and had more than a quart left over to eat for lunches during the week.

JUDY'S QUICK AND EASY CHICKEN-TORTELLONI SOUP

Here's an easy soup recipe when you want something homemade, delicious and comforting but don't want to spend a lot of time getting it. The refrigerated pastas are wonderful for this sort of thing. Buitoni and Monterey Pasta Company and others have done a good job of packaging filled pastas that can be used in so many different ways -- salads, soups, entrees and even appetizers.
This soup is so easy, you don't even need a recipe, but I'll attempt to write one for you.

Judy's Quick and Easy Chicken-Tortelloni Soup
Rating: 9 out of 10

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup sliced or chopped celery
1/4 cup sliced or chopped carrot
2-3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 cup chopped or shredded cooked chicken
1/2 tsp. sea salt
dash black pepper
1/2 of a 9-oz. package of tortelloni (use your favorite flavor)

Place all ingredients in a 2-quart heavy pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover pot and simmer for 10 minutes, or till everything is cooked through. Add additional seasonings, as desired. Garnish with fresh parsley and/or Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

What can be more comforting than chicken noodle soup? I don't make it too much any more, because our local butcher shop has the best chicken rice soup I've ever tasted. It has big chunks of chicken in not-too-salty broth with tender rice for the amazing price of $3.00/pint. Because it's not too brothy, a pint feeds two of us when I add some chicken broth and extra veggies. I made this batch of soup because of the paella I made recently. When I boned the chicken thighs for the paella, I was left with meaty bones that went into the freezer. I added a chicken breast to the thigh bones for this soup.

Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS: 1 quart chicken broth

2 cups water

3 celery stalks cut in bite-sized chunks

2-3 carrots cut in bite-sized chunks

1/2 cup onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 chicken leg quarter, or 2 chicken thighs, or meaty bones from 10 chicken

chicken thighs

1 chicken breast, skin on and bone in

1/2 - 1 cup chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS: Heat chicken broth and water on high in large (5-6 quart) stockpot. While broth is heating, chop vegetables and add to pot with seasonings. Wash chicken well in salted water and add to pot. Bring almost to a boil, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and cook for 5-6 hours. (It's important that the soup does not boil, not even a low boil.)

Pour soup through a strainer or colander, separating the broth from the chicken and veggies. Pick the meat from the bones, discarding bones, fat and skin. Chop meat into bite-sized pieces.

using all soup at once, return broth to pot, skimming off excess fat. Add the chopped parsley.

Now it's time to cook the noodles. You have two choices: cook them in the broth, then add the chicken and veggies when they're done; or cook them in salted water in a separate pot and add them at the end. I cook the noodles in a separate pot in salted water because I like the taste better and I want as much broth as possible with my soup. If you cook the noodles in the broth, the noodles will use up a good amount of the broth. You also have the choice of discarding the cooked veggies and adding fresh veggies to the pot.