We love soup! We love eating soup and making soup. I have been craving the comforting healthy goodness of soup this past week. I wanted to make it every day but the fact is we developed this recipe back when I had so much food left from over the holidays to use up I was living on leftovers so things didn’t go to waste. I thought, why am I not using those “leftovers” to make soup.
Making soup is creative and freeing, especially when you don’t really have a recipe and your only plan is to use up things you already have in your pantry and refrigerator. I think one of the best things about making soup is that with some basic concepts and cravings, you can make soup however you want and whatever you are craving. The joke around our house is when I make soup I make enough to fill whatever size pot I take out to use. Today was no exception, lol, and I have enough soup for a few days.
To that end, I opened the refrigerator/freezer and took stock(pun intended). Lol. I had some chicken left from when I made jambalaya last week and I had veggies left over from holiday gatherings. I also have been dreaming about our Southwest Chicken Quinoa Soup which is one of my favorites.
Let’s talk about how to make soup. Good soup starts with a good stock and then all you do is layer flavors, simmer a bit and voila: Soup!
How to make soup with what you have at home:
Decide if you are making a vegetarian or meat based soup. Decide on what “flavor” of soup you are wanting. Today I was wanting something with a southwest flare. I started by making a list of possible ingredients I had at home and worked from there.
I started out by dicing some onions, and slicing some carrots. Next I diced up the boneless chicken breast tenders I had on hand. Next in a stock pot I drizzled about a tbsp of avocado oil and threw in the onions and chicken. Once the chicken was cooked and the onions softened, I threw in the carrots and celery and let those saute for a few minutes. Next I added the chicken broth and can of tomato sauce and about a cup of frozen corn I had in a bag in the freezer. I added salt, pepper, cumin(remember south west flare) and some fresh cilantro. I let that simmer for about 30 minutes to create the soup base. While that was simmering I rummaged through the fridge and dug out additional veggies I wanted to use up. I had about ¼ of a head of cabbage so I quickly rough chopped that and added to the stock asap to simmer for most of the 30 minutes. I picked through and rinsed the fresh spinach I had on hand, dug out a ½ bag of frozen peas, I decided I was feeling quinoa in my soup today instead of rice or noodles.
After the soup base simmered for about 30 minutes, I tasted it for salt, added ½ cup of washed quinoa, a cup of water to replace the broth the quinoa would absorb. I let that simmer until the quinoa was cooked. Next I stirred in the peas and spinach, let simmer for 2 more minutes and it was finished.
The best part about this soup is that I could have taken it in any direction. Use the veggies you have and love. Use rice or noodles instead of quinoa. Use your favorite seasonings. I seriously considered adding a can of rinsed beans and some diced potatoes today but in the end felt it had enough veggies and flavor and decided to just use those in something else later this week.
Below are some variations that could easily work just as well:
More traditional Chicken Soup:
Leave out tomato sauce, cumin and cilantro Just simmer the chicken, carrots, celery together Add in some cooked egg noodles….call it done
Thai Chicken Soup:
Leave out the cumin and add some ginger and lemon grass(if you have it) instead Stir in a can of coconut soup just before adding the spinach and peas
Thai Curry Chicken Soup
Leave out the cumin and add some ginger, curry and lemon grass(if you have it) instead. Stir in a can of coconut soup just before adding the spinach and peas
Even heartier Chicken Veggie Soup:
Add a can of rinsed black or great northern beans
Don’t like Quinoa?:
Add rice or cooked noodles instead or leave out completely
Vegetarian:
Leave out the chicken and use vegetable stock instead. Add more veggies and simmer 10 minutes longer.
Beef Vegetable soup:
Use some leftover roast beef or even some ground beef and beef stock instead. Leave out cumin, just use salt and pepper to taste
I really hope you try making some soup with the things you have on hand. The joke around our house is when I make soup I make enough to fill whatever size pot I take out to use. Today was no exception, lol, and I have enough soup for a few days. The recipe lists the quantities of things I used in my soup today. I really hope you try making some soup with the things you have on hand. If you do please post a pic and tag #potofgoldblog
A how to recipe for homemade soup using the ingredients you have at home.
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 lb diced chicken
- 3 sliced sliced carrots
- 10 cups chicken broth
- 3 stalks diced celery
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/4 head diced cabbage
- 2 tsp cumin or to taste
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1/2 cup rinsed quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- fresh squeezed lime
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In stock pot add olive oil, onion, and chicken. Saute on medium heat until onion is tender and chicken is cooked. Add celery, carrots, corn, cabbage, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper, add more if needed
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Add quinoa and water. Cover and simmer until quinoa is cooked, about 20 minutes. Stir in spinach and frozen peas. Simmer an additional 3 minutes. Squeeze 1/2 fresh lime over top(really gives it a bright fresh taste), dollop of sour cream, some avocado and extra cilantro if desired and you have it on hand. Serve with what you have on hand, crackers, bread, bagel, english muffin.
If you are using this particular recipe and not doing the possible variations listed above PLEASE USE LIME JUICE! That’s right capitalized and bolded because this soup was pretty good, but lacking the Southwest taste we were going for. By squeezing fresh lime juice into the finished soup it took it to the next level, please don’t miss out on this extra zip!
#Good friends share good food
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