I don't know about you guys, but I always keep chicken stock in the house. And I mean always. It's SO versatile; cook couscous or rice in it for extra flavor, add a splash to some sauteeing vegetables, or make an super easy soup! And that's exactly what I did tonight. No measuring of anything, just dumping into a pot. It's that simple.
Pour enough chicken (or vegetable) stock into a pot for two people. I peeled and chopped up some red potatoes I had lying around starting to spud, and threw them into the boiling broth. Once cooked I added a drained and rinsed can of cannelini beans and used a potato masher to mash just some of the potatoes and beans to thicken the broth. The rest I left whole. Then I added a handful of orzo, cooked it another few minutes and added two giant handfuls of fresh, chopped swiss chard. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, serve and grate some fresh parmesan. SO healthy, so easy, and totally satisfying.
*Note: I keep either boxes of Pacifico Chicken Stock or Low Sodium College Inn Chicken Broth in the house. The College Inn is better for soups, it's a bit more flavorful in my opinion. But the Pacifico is great for everything else - and it's organic, which is a total plus.
3 comments:
It looks and sounds wonderful. I love making soup with whatever I have on hand. I like the minestrone rule of one legume, one green and one grain even if you're not actually making minestrone. Barley is a great soup ingredient because it makes the soup taste creamy without the fat of cream. An immersion blender is a good tool for soup enthusiasts (never blend all of it, just 1/3-1/2 depending on your preferences). As a final note, I always say it takes me the same amount of time to make a pot of soup as to make a sandwich -- but the sandwich lasts one lunch and the soup lasts 5-10!
I love that minestrone rule - thats a new one!
Wow, I love these ideas you are giving me! I didn't know soups were so easy to make. In fact, I thought they were much harder to make than sandwiches and have resorted to Progresso canned soups at lunchtime, which are acceptable but too salty and obviously, not fresh.
I think with experience, you understand things that can make a soup be even better, like potatoes should to be thrown in first, and the greens last.
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