I am a huge soup fan. Yep, soup, broth, consomme, you name it love it. I can enjoy a huge bowl and be totally content. I am going to be a great old lady, just for the fact that I actually love a bowl of consomme and a Rye Krisp cracker. Must be from all the visits to my late grandparent's retirement home and all the Sunday brunches we went to. My hubby on the other hand just rolls his eyes. "Soup is not an entire meal". Must be a guy thing. So with March kicked into gear, we are finally getting some much needed rain here in Northern California. I am not up to creating in the crock pot, and I have not even thought of dinner for the night, however, it is wet and cold out and my soup craving has kicked in.
For a gal who loves it so much, you would think that I have a pantry full of assorted soups. No, no way, only homemade in this house, and the only reason why? My hubby is an incredible chef, so when I am able to kindly talk him into making some, I ask for enough to feed me for the week. However, on the days that he is not home and I want a quick soup fix, I have to get creative. My fav "go to in a hurry" soup is chicken, veggie. I can always whip this up because I always have fresh veggies in the house. One of the staples in the pantry at ALL times are boxes of broth. Beef, Veggie and Chicken, usually 3 of each at one time. Seems almost every recipe calls for one of those and I want to be ready. Organic and low sodium of course.
My fav veggies to use in this one: carrots, celery and onion. Seriously, can this be any easier? I am not a fan of measuring tools, so I just don't (unless I am totally needing to).
3 carrots
1 onion
3-5 stalks of celery (peeled)
Steam all of them just until al dente
While the veggies are steaming I add one 32 ounce box of Low Sodium Chicken Broth with about 5 cups water, season with sea salt (I know, why low sodium then add salt)? Because I can control my sodium and it is just a dash with my fingers. Bring to a boil, then add the steamed veggies to the pot, simmer. I love adding rice to my chicken soup...so I cook up some in the rice cooker and just add to the pot of broth and veggies. (Again, no measuring, just doing)
There you have it. The world's quickest, easiest chicken-veggie soup. I am happy and got my fix. Just top with some ground black pepper (that is endless, because like my late grandfather, I am a lover of pepper). Making soup at home just makes more sense to me. It costs less and you are in control of all your ingredients. Sure there are some good soups out there, but I can buy more veggies and get more bang for my buck making our own. :)
