It continues to be soup weather here in Virginia. I had a LOT of vegetables hanging around, compliments of an overexuberant shopping trip and a delivery from Imperfect Foods, so I thought it was time for some creamy chicken vegetable soup.
As with most of my other soups, this was a toss together...
3 chicken breasts, about 2.5 pounds
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 ribs celery
2 medium green peppers, chopped
8 ounces baby carrots, chopped
A bunch of garlic, minced
1 pound asparagus, chopped into approximately 1 inch pieces
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, chopped large
1 pound red potatoes, chopped large
1 pound frozen succotash
1 can evaporated milk
2 T corn starch
1.5 quarts chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 T sweet basil
1 T oregano
2 t Thyme
To make it I...
Roasted and shredded the chicken breast and set aside. I salted it and let it sit for about 2 hours before roasting, as well.
Chopped the onion, celery, green pepper, carrots and garlic and sweated them in the stock pot in some vegetable oil and a couple heavy pinches of salt for about 10-15 minutes until they were starting to go soft.
Add 1.5 quarts of chicken broth, the bay leaves and other herbs, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add the chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, potatoes, and succotash. Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are almost done, about 10 minutes.
Mix the corn starch with the evaporated milk until it's smooth with no lumps. Add to the pot, stir, and increase heat to bring back to a low boil. Let boil for a couple of minutes. Turn the heat off and let it sit for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Bowl up and serve with a chuck of buttered sourdough bread.
Made for a really, really nice meal on a winter night.
If you like your soup a bit thicker, you can stir in some instant potato flakes.
I was originally going to cook some bacon to go into it, and sweat the veggies in the bacon fat, but I completely forgot. Looks like I'll have to find another use for the bacon...
I was also going to put in about a pound of green beans that I also got in my vegetable delivery, but when I looked at how much vegetation there was in the pot I decided to save those for dinner for this evening...
