This past weekend I made this delicious soup to help nourish our bodies to fight this cold. Here’s the recipe:
Items needed:
- 8-12 pieces chicken thighs, easiest without bone in or skin on
- Salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary
- 1 box of chicken broth liquid
- Olive Oil
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped in quarters
- 6 stalks celery, cleaned and chopped into 4 pieces each
- 1 large beet or 3 small beets, peeled and chopped into 6 large pieces
- 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped into 4 large pieces
- 20 cloves garlic, peeled but not pressed
- 2 yellow bell peppers, cut into seedless quarters
- A large pan
- A wooden spoon
- Enough water to fill the rest of the pan after everything else is in it
- A blender strong enough to make smoothies, that has an 8 cup pitcher
The day before you make the soup:
Place all the chicken as flat as possible in a glass baking pan, coat each piece with a liberal amount of salt and pepper. Bake until it is well cooked. Cover, and let it cool overnight in the fridge.
The day you make the soup:
Fill the blender pitcher half full with veggies, then pour in enough of the broth to add appropriate moisture to the process. (Wet vegies like pepper and celery require less liquid than dry vegies like beets do). Blend till vegies are /smoothie/baby food consistency. Pour liquid in the pan.
Do this over and over until all the vegies are processed smooth, and in the pan.
Now pull out the cooked chicken and do this again. Chicken requires a lot of liquid, so if you run out of broth, use water.
Add about 1 1/2 cup of Olive Oil, and if there is still room in the pan, add water until the pan is as full as you want it to be.
Bring the soup to a boil, stirring often so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. One bubbles form, turn the temp down to low and simmer for a few hours, cooking the vegies nice and long. Take a sample and decide if you want to add more seasonings like salt, pepper, ginger, tumeric, marjoram, mustard, thyme, rosemary. The aroma is wonderful!
Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Garnish with Rosemary and Thyme sprigs.
Serve with: salty chips or cheesy garlic bread
Leftovers: can keep in refrigerator for about 2 days, or freeze.