Country Style Chicken Soup

The summer is coming to the end this week.  It had been a good summer.  The kids had lots of outdoor fun while they could, and we spent some quality time with our family and friends.  It's always sad when the summer ends.  It feels like the fun is over in a way.  But then the fall is my favorite season.  The smell of rainy air and red leaves always put me in a creative mood.  Something like - my mind and soul marge together harmoniously and I feel very connected to the earth - happens to me when I feel fall in the air.  I've been playing the guitar, cooking, baking and taking photos.  Enjoying small things I like to do around the house.  

The smell of fall inspired me to make this very special soup.  It seems perfect to welcome fall with this country style chicken soup which have many of my garden harvests in it.  The chicken is from my brother and sister-in-law.  They have a mini farm and produce their own chicken, turkey and pork meats.  They are amazingly lean and clean.  It can't be more earthy and healthy than this!

I'm starting the semi-annual cleansing next week.  So hopefully I can come up some interesting and healthy cleanse recipes to post : )

Recipe: Serves 4 bowls

Chicken Soup:

4 cups of Chicken Broth (I made my own and the recipe is at the bottom)

1 cups of chicken meat

1 small sweet onion

2 carrots

2 big stalks of celery

a hand full of beans

a hand full of peas

1 medium zucchini

a cup of chopped chards

2 big cloves of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

(a small amount of dried or fresh oregano and a bay leaf for store-bought broth)

Crash and mince garlic. Dice onion and celery, and set them aside. Cut carrots, beans, zucchini and chicken into small chunks. Add one tablespoon of olive oil into a heated pot and sauté garlic, onion, celery, and carrots for a couple of minutes.  Add chicken, beans, zucchini and sauté a few more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken broth and bring it to boil with medium heat for 15-20 minutes.  Taste and adjust the flavor.  Add chopped chards and peas.  Cook for another few minuets. 

Ready to serve!

*Here's the recipe for making your own chicken broth.  

Chicken Broth:

Chop a whole chicken in half and place them in the large pot. Place one onion cut in half, two carrots, a rib of celery cut in half, a few garlic cloves, bouquet garni (I used fresh parsley, oregano, thyme, bay leaves), 10 peppercorns, in the pan with one tablespoon of salt, one tablespoon of gluten free light soy sauce (yes, soy sauce!), one tablespoon of sugar. Bring it to boil and cook it for about 2 hours at least. Stir occasionally.  Take the chicken out and scoop everything else out by using a strainer.  Remove the fat on top as well and make sure the broth is nice and clear.  Taste and adjust the saltiness.  Trim /rip off the chicken meat to use for soup and whatever else. Let it cool and store in a container.