I overheard a few of my coworkers comparing a couple of my recipes the other day. It brought a smile to my face. I spoil them with food regularly; I love to cook, but cooking for one is tricky. I always seem to have enough for eight. My neighbor, friends and coworkers are regularly handed Pyrex dishes of something new and being told to just, “Give it a try and be honest with the review later.”

With that in mind, I went to work making a pot of chicken soup last night. I read a couple recipes and compared my previous notes and then decided just to wing it. {Wing it! Chicken soup. Ha!}

just add chicken

If you live in the Valley, Sunflower Market is so great. I am officially applauding their produce department. Plus, their chicken is considerably less expensive than other markets. And it is a hippie store where they bag my groceries in my Frida nylon bag without giving me attitude. That alone makes me happy enough to give them my business.

sliced and diced

Rainy Day Chicken Soup:
Dice one whole onion, five carrots and three cloves of garlic. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add these and let them simmer for 10 minutes.

loads of veggies

While your onion mix is becoming translucent, cut up any other veggies that suit your fancy. I love squash. Celery I can live without, but it seems like almost a requirement for a good veggie soup. Throw this in the pot. Stir everything together.

leave the skin on for the first round to add flavor

Add 8-10 cups of chicken broth and several pieces of chicken. I added three large chicken thighs with the skin. Don’t get grossed out — I remove the skin later. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat and let cook for 30 minutes.

brown rice pumps it up

Remove the chicken from the pot, cut off the skin and shred the chicken. Return it to the pot with 2 cups of brown long grain rice. Return to a simmer for 40 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

a peek at Chicken Soup

Voila — Rainy Day Chicken Soup. Great with a glass of white wine and a big chunk of whole grain bread.

Chicken soup, the jar's perspective
ready for delivery

And in the recycling department, this is when it comes in really handy if you’ve saved those pickle and tomato sauce jars. (Or bought a couple at the dollar store like the one above.) I made my rounds last night dropping off soup to friends and managed to clear off the recycling shelf in my pantry.

~K