Chicken soup (For when an apple a day does work!)

I just recently came down with a cold, so what else would you eat when afflicted by a cold? Chicken soup of course! I personally, despite being  under the weather would much rather make my own soup over heating canned soup (despite it taking a lot less energy). First, I can add more chicken and vegetables in the soup. Second, I also know how much sodium is in the soup and finally it just tastes better. I make soups frequently but rarely follow a recipe. This approach can back fire when trying to make cream based soups. So for me soup making tends to be a "let's clean out the fridge and see what might go together" type of cooking activity. This I warn you can be rather a risky business. I have definitely made some soups that I don't like. Chicken soup is pretty basic, and can be quite cost effective considering how many meals you get out of a pot compared to a can of soup!

Here is what I did:

2 poblano chilies (roasted in the oven, skinned, de-seeded and chopped up)

1 diced onion

3 minced cloves of garlic

5 celery stalks chopped

6 chopped carrots

1/3 cup wild rice

2/3 cup Trader Joe's Brown rice medley

2 cooked chicken breasts chopped (I boiled them)

Turmeric (helps brighten the color - naturally!) 

olive oil

chicken stock (I used 4 cups

water

Poblanos

Saute onions, garlic, celery, carrots and wild rice in olive oil and turmeric until the carrots are just starting to soften. Add brown rice medley, chicken stock and 1 cups of water. Add poblano chilies. Cook til rice is just turning tender. Add water if you need more liquid. The rice mixture will absorb some of the liquid and some will cook off. You can also just use more chicken broth if you want. Season as you wish with herbs and spices of your choice!

Brown Rice, Black Barley and Dikon Radish Seeds

I typically don't add salt until I am eating a bowl of soup. This ensures the soup does get overly salty. While most may not think of whipping up a pot of soup at a drop of a hat, I will say it really isn't that hard and can be an entire meal if you add enough stuff to the pot. Every time I make soup it comes out a little different because as stated I rarely a recipe. In my opinion it is best just to experiment. What is good to remember however is the order of when you add  ingredients. Obviously really hard vegetables and hard beans will need to cook the longest. While tender vegetables can be added at the very last minute. Also if you are going to use rice or pasta best to for the first time have it al dente, because every time you re-heat the soup it will soften. I froze half the pot to keep it fresh, but ended up defrosting it two days later. I got about 10 meals out of the pot.