Spruce up your Chicken Soup with these simple add-ins

Got an ordinary chicken soup recipe laying around that just doesn't seem all that exciting anymore?  There are many options you can create to add variety and excitement to your chicken soup recipe.

 

 

 

Lets start with a simple chicken soup recipe like the one found here.

Ingredients:

500 g skinless chicken breasts
3 carrots, chopped
4 celery, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 cup green beans, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 -4 tablespoons chicken stock
8 cups water
salt & pepper

Directions:

1 Bring water to boil.
2 In the meantime, cut up all the vegetables into small cubes.
3 Cut the chicken into 1cm cubes.
4 Add the vegetables and garlic and stock and boil on high heat for 5 minutes, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
5 Add chicken and bring to boil for 2 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or longer.
6 Soup is ready when all ingredients have sunk to the bottom!

One Way to add some extra flavor to this recipe is to add it at the end.  This is an easy variation if you are serving it to a number of people with different palates.  Each person could potential have their own toppings to their own liking, or a variation of the toppings I added to mine.  The toppings I added to my soup are: jalapenos, sliced avocado and diced cherry tomatoes.

A second way to add variation is to play with the ingredients themselves while it is cooking.  Testing out different vegetable options can add a great about of variation and color to your soup.  Try some zucchini and red paper flakes.  I would recommend spiraling the zucchini to give it a noodle texture to the soup.  These can simple be added when you add in the vegetables.  For the red pepper flakes I would add those in the very beginning when you start boiling your water.  That way the red flakes have time to open up and release their flavors into the water, vegetables and chicken.  You can even allow the red pepper flake water to boil a few minutes before you begin adding ingredients.

If you are lacking time to create a soup.  Throw everything into a slow cooker and let it do its magic beginning in the morning.  Allowing the soup to cook all day will give you the chance to enjoy the soup for a nice warm dinner.  Another option to lessen time is to buy an organic rotisserie chicken already cooked.  Whole foods is a great option.  Just take the skin and chop up the meat.  No need to cook the chicken beforehand...just warm it up again with your vegetables in the boiling water.

Lastly, if  you find you are someone who doesn't feel satisfied after a soup or don't have something to go along with your soup then just add brown rice.  You can add the rice in with your ingredients if you are doing the slow cooker option.  Just make sure you add in a couple more cups of water for the rice to absorb.  Or you can cook your rice along side your soup at the same time.  Then add together at the end.  Or for the time crunch, places like Trader Joe's offer single pouch quick cooking rice that you can heat up real quick and add to your soup.