Soul-soothing chicken soup
When I was a little girl, the first thing that my Mum would make for me if I got sick was a large pot of her healing chicken soup. One bowl of this and every cell in your body will be saying thank you - it really is a satisfying soul-soothing soup. I make it from scratch, but you need to get started 2 days before you want to eat it as I put it in the fridge for 2 days to allow the flavours to develop & allow the fat to set as it makes it easier to remove. I also keep the offcuts of celery e.g. the leaves & stalks that I don't eat, as they add a lovely flavor to the stock. I also use the same pot to make the soup & once the soup has been strained, you'll notice a jelly like liquid at the at the bottom of the pot - DO NOT remove this as it adds to the goodness of the soup - enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 whole organic chicken or 3 large chicken thighs (koipireisi in Finnish)
- Celery leaves & stalks
- 1 TB olive oil
- 1 leek - sliced
- 1/2 sweet potato (chopped finely)
- 1 carrot /chopped finely)
- ½ cup of quinoa
- Fresh parsley
- 2 organic stock cubes (for every 500mls approx of water)
Directions
- Step 1 To make the stock, put the chicken & celery into a large pot, cover with water & cook for about 1 hour
- Step 2 Allow to cool & then put in the fridge for about 2 days
- Step 3 Skim off the chicken fat that has settled on the top & throw away, remove the chicken & then strain. You’ll be left with about 1 – 1. 5 litres of stock
- Step 4 Remove the chicken skins & break up the remaining chicken meat as you’ll add it to the soup later
- Step 5 Heat oil & then add leek, carrot & sweet potato – cook until soft.
- Step 6 Add stock, quinoa, chicken meat & cook for about 30 minutes.
- Step 7 Add stock cubes, parsley & mix well & it’s ready to serve.
