Winter comfort food - 'anytime' Chicken Soup

I love a good chicken soup.

It's one of our family winter favourites. A nice warm bowl or cup of hot homemade soup is super comforting for lunch, dinner or a snack… pretty much anytime, when its cold and wintery outside.

My chicken soup

This soup is quick and easy and full of wonderful 'repairs and maintenance' foods that are particularly welcome when trying to keep our winter bodies healthily fighting off those winter cold and flu bugs.

This morning I put on a batch of my chicken soup and I thought I'd give you a peek into my 'anytime' cooking psyche.

The basic recipe is chicken legs, liquid chicken stock, plenty of 'anytime' soup vegetables till the pot is full, salt and pepper, and a little extra water to cover the vegetables.

I have a basic plan, but the soup is never exactly the same. I add vegetables or leave them out often depending on what I have in the house, what needs using up, or what I feel like putting in.

Potato is the only 'sometimes carb' I allow. Onion, carrot, celery are the basics, and I like at least one of parsnip, turnip or swede (or all three) for the flavour and nutritional variety. I often add pumpkin and sweet potato, capsicum, spring onion or even mushroom.

today's version of my chicken soup

Ingredients
3 onions (usually only 2 onions)
5 carrots

lots of 'anytime food'

2 stalks celery
2 small potatoes (often none, or one)
1 turnip
1 parsnip
½ swede
½ leek (I would have put it all in but ran out of room)
5 chicken legs (I often put in 8)
1 litre liquid chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
extra water to cover vegetables.

Instructions
Turn on slow cooker
Pour in the liquid stock
Add chicken legs
Chop up the vegetables and add to cooker
(chop them smallish … don't be too precious about it)
(if the cooker is full stop adding vegetables… if the cooker isn't full add more 'anytime' vegetables)
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra water if needed to just cover vegetables.
Put slow cooker on 'auto' and leave to cook for the day (approx 7 hours)
Share with loved ones.

extra information that may or may not be useful

You've probably figured out that I'm no gourmet cook. I have my moments, but largely I'm a functional cook. I've churned out big meals for years to fill the collective belly of my large family and I'm not big on frilly cooking.

I tend to think of recipes more as 'guidelines'.

There's plenty of room for variation on this recipe. You can add extra herbs and spices as you like. I sometimes do. My husband likes chilli, or I might add garlic, or ginger…. or all three. More often than not with this soup I find the simple flavouring of salt and pepper keeps everyone happy.

keep adding vegetables till
the cooker is full

I do on occasion use boneless chicken but I like the chicken legs cause I think the bones add more flavour. You can use a whole chicken and make your own stock if you prefer. I'm just too lazy to precook it and remove the fat. The skinless legs are even less fatty.

You don't have to use a slow cooker. You can use a large saucepan and cook this soup on the stove top but it will need supervision. If that works for you, add all the ingredients as I did. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and cook with lid on, stirring from time to time. The soup should be ready to eat in 2 ½ hours this way.

I never bother cooking a small batch cause I have a large family who love this soup and it always gets used up.  You can do a smaller batch, but if you're going to the trouble of cooking it, a bigger batch is more practical and it freezes well in freezer bags.

For a smaller batch I would probably do 2 skinless chicken legs, ½ litre of chicken stock, 1 onion, 3 carrots, 2 celery sticks, a parsnip or turnip, one small potato. And I would do it in a smaller saucepan on the stove top.

Don't feel pressured to do it my way though. If you have a favourite soup recipe but want it to be more 'anytime food' friendly, try modifying the balance of vegetables, or eliminating noodles or grains and see how it comes up.

You may surprise yourself. I do, on a regular basis.

Happy 'anytime' eating.