#26 Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup..could there really be a better comfort food. Although it is not my favorite soup, it tastes the best when you have a cold and that is the exact reason why I made this soup on the particular day that I made it...well to blog it too, of course. Everyone should have a good chicken noodle soup recipe and this is mine!!! Simple with not too many seasonings.

Chicken Noodle Soup

72 oz. chicken broth (can or homemade)
3 carrots, peeled and sliced (or you can chop them too)
10 oz. dried home-style noodles (these are thick noodles usually found in cellophane bags)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and fork shredded
3 cloves garlic (minced)- or more:)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. dried parsley (or fresh if you have it)
1 tsp. dried dill

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile in a soup pot combine chicken broth, carrots and garlic. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until carrots are tender. Add cooked/shredded chicken, salt and pepper, parsley, dill and cooked noodles and continue over medium burner until heated through. About 5-10 minutes.

Someday I would like to make this soup with homemade broth and noodles...that will taste even better. But for now, this soup could not be any easier to make and it is sure to help you get through the long cold winter! Especially when you are not feeling the best:)

#25 Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup

Under the "Soups" chapter in "The Homemade Pantry" the author has the basics like chicken and beef stock, but also has a few soup recipes like lentil, pureed soups and beef stew. Well, again, it's funny to me that any soup would be in a homemade pantry cookbook because I almost always make soup homemade. Actually, I consider myself the queen of soup.....self-described.... of course:) The reason? I LOVE soup and I love making soup and really enjoy finding new soup recipes for my annual fall hayride party. But you might have noticed that I said almost always. In fact..once in a very great while I will crack open a can of soup to heat up and eat for lunch. If I do, it is almost always homestyle chicken noodle. So I will be sharing my easy chicken noodle soup recipe in my next post, but first....I'm going to share a recipe that is a little time consuming but falls under the pureed soup category that is in the book.

Smoked Sausage Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse's recipe found here.

1 medium butternut squash
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt & Pepper
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 lb. smoked sausage-kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup half & half
1/2 Tbsp. parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half legnth -wise and scoop out seeds. Season the squash with 1 tablespoon oil, salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet and roast for one hour.
If your wild rice is not cooked....do this while your squash is roasting.

 

Cool completely before scooping the squash from the peel. Add to squash to bowl with 2 cups of chicken stock. Puree with imersion blender or you can add squash and chicken stock to a blender and blend until smooth, set aside.

 

In a large soup pot, over medium heat add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil. When the oil is hot add the sausage and brown for 3 minutes. Then add the onion to the pot....season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Saute until onion is soft and translucent. Add the remaining 4 cups of chicken stock, squash puree and corn. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any fat that comes to the surface. Stir in rice and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in half & half, and season with more salt and pepper, to taste. Finally stir in parsley and serve.

I forgot the parsley when I prepared this, so my end result above it without it. I can't say that my kids like squash very much but most of them either liked the soup or tolerated it enough to eat their soup. My 2 year old was the only one that did not eat it:( I on the other hand, love butternut squash and love this soup so much! Yum, yum, yum! Totally worth the time...even if it's just for a lazy Saturday night meal instead of a crazy busy weeknight meal!