Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Eric is a great cook.  One of the things he likes to do a lot in the winter is toss a bunch of vegetables in the oven and roast them all afternoon.  Once they're roasted, we can eat them as is or grind them up for spreads and soups.

Last week,  Eric roasted a whole head of garlic, 6 large slices of ginger, 2 cut up carrots, a sliced onion, a handful of frozen red peppers and three chicken breasts - all topped with a generous sprinkle of oregano and thyme.    He put it all in the cast iron skillet and left it in the oven at 250 until the chicken was done.   

It would have been fine to plate it up as is and eat it that way, but Eric decided to shred the meat and make soup.  He added 4 cups of turkey stock from the freezer along with 4 cups of water and 4 chicken bouillon cubes.   It made a brilliant brothy soup.   And we had enough leftovers for dinner the next day. 

Soup Season

This is the time of year we pull out our favorite soup recipes and I thought you might like them, too.   Here's a quick list of some of our best ones.

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Soup - we had this one with leftover turkey.  Yum!!

Spicy Pumpkin Soup - just a hint of Indian spices and good with any winter squash!

We love this Zuppa Toscana - a great way to cook up those hearty winter greens.

The last soup is one of my favorites!  Bean Soup with Bacon, Chicken and Pesto.  Pesto is guaranteed to perk up cold days and this soup is another great way to use up leftover turkey.

Asian Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite meals.  It's beautiful and delicious.  And good for you - as long as you don't drown it in the dressing, which is to die for.

Start with a bed of your favorite greens.   Add some pineapple and mandarin oranges.

Top it with some chicken bites marinated and then cooked in Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze. 

Toss it a bit and drizzle a bit of Oriental Salad Dressing on the top.  You can sprinkle sesame seeds on the top, too.   I love those.

It's so good, you'll want more for dessert.  Seriously.

Here are the recipes.

Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze
www.rurification.com

• 1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 large cloves garlic, sliced in quarters
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Put all the ingredients in a small pot.  Bring to a boil.  Let simmer for a while so the flavors will meld.  Strain out the garlic and basil leaves.  Yield:  2 cups or so.

Chicken Bites in Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze
www.rurification.com

• 2 chicken breasts cut in small pieces
• 1 cup of Orange Honey Basil Garlic Glaze
• Oil for cooking the chicken in

Marinade chicken in glaze for a couple of hours.    Heat the oil in a heavy pan and drop the chicken and glaze in.  Cover for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, then remove the cover and let the chicken brown and the glaze reduce.  You want those tasty crunchies.

Oriental Salad Dressing
www.rurification.com

• 1/4 cup sugar [or less, if you like]
• 1/4 cup vinegar.  We like our Oriental Spice Vinegar
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup oil
• drizzle of sesame oil
• 3 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper, ground

Thank you!!

A million thanks to our readers who helped us out by voting for our entry in the Avian Aqua Miser giveaway.   I love you guys!  We won!!

We are very excited to get to try one of their new bucket waterers.   They are designed to keep the water off ground level where birds are notorious for standing in and on and knocking over other types of waterers.  Poop free water!  We'll give you a full report when we get it set up.

They have another type of waterer, too, that's smaller and better for crates and small enclosures. 

AND!   They have DIY kits, so if you have your own bucket, etc, they can send you only the gasket, nipples and drill bit that you need to make your own waterer.  

The products are made on a family farm by Anna and Mark from Walden Effect - a terrific blog about their adventures in full time 'trailersteading'.   Check out the list of books they've written [left sidebar of their blog] on the many aspects of homesteading and growing and storing your own food.   The blog itself is a treasure trove of knowledge.   Look for several posts a day on every aspect of the farm.   I especially love the brown bag series that Ann does occasionally with detailed reviews of books and vids about homesteading and permaculture.   Their blog is a daily must-read for me.   Check it out!

And - as a way to share the love,  I'll be doing a couple of giveaways here on Rurification, too.   I've got a couple of great cookbooks to pass along to you.   Stay tuned!!

Orange Garlic Basil Chicken, Quinoa and Veg Stir Fry

I gave a friend of mine a jar of this beautiful Orange Garlic Basil Glaze that I made last year.   She's a much more creative and knowledgeable cook than I am and I was thrilled when she emailed me the recipe that she'd come up with for this glaze.  You'll love it! Take your time and enjoy the resulting feast.  

Thank you, Sharon!! 

Sharon's Orange Garlic Basil Chicken and Quinoa w/Vegetable Stir Fry

www.rurification.com

• 1 small half pint of Robin’s Orange Garlic Basil Glaze  (you will use most if not all of it)
• 1 chicken breast half – butterflied
• ½ cup quinoa
• 1 cup of water, plus 3 TBS of water for veggies.
• 3 cups (or more) vegetables - cut small (eggplant, onions, zucchini, brocollini, mushrooms, carrots – whatever combo you like!)
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 2-4 TBS chopped fresh basil
• Olive oil – as needed.

Thin 2-3 tbs of Orange Garlic Basic Jam in enough Olive Oil to thin to a thick liquid in a zip lock bag.  Add 1 butterflied skinned chicken breast.  Let sit in the refrigerator 4 hrs or longer.

25 minutes before you are ready to eat pre-heat the grill.

20 minutes before dinner put the chicken on the grill.  At the same time, combine ½ cut of Quinoa in 1 cup of water, salt to taste and simmer.  

Meanwhile: chop ½ small onion, sauté in a bit of olive oil, when translucent add up to 3 cups of vegetables (brocollini, mushrooms, kale, grated carrots, or whatever you like)

About 9 minutes later flip the chicken. At this point add a bit of water to the vegetables to help steam them (if the vegetables are thick – cover to condense heat – else, leave the lid off!).  Your vegetables should end up a bit on the crisp side.

15 minutes after you started the chicken and quinoa, take the chicken off the grill, take the quinoa off the stove (the quinoa should be a soupy and a bit underdone – adjust your time if needed).

Dump the soupy quinoa in the vegetables.  Dollop 3-4 TBS (or to taste) of Orange Garlic Basil Glaze in the pan and stir to dissolve.  Slice the chicken and add it to the same pan.

Continue “evaporating” the liquid until thickened – about 5 minutes.  Add 1 tbs of soy sauce and some fresh chopped basil. Serve.  Will easily feed 2 – 3 if accompanied with a side dish (VERY filling – and light at the same time)

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Soup

I love soup.    I've been trying a bunch of new soups and here's my latest triumph.   It's fabulous.

I know that when you saw the name of the post, you immediately had visions of glorified macaroni and cheese sauce with chicken in it, but really this isn't like that.    It's cheesy and brothy.   It's chothy!

O.K.  That was dumb, but the soup is still delicious.   Even if it does call for processed cheese food.   Stop rolling your eyes and get the Velveeta out.

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Soup
www.rurification.com

• 3-4 slices of bacon cooked crisp and then cooled and crumbled.  
• 4 Tablespoons bacon grease divided
• 2 chicken breasts [I used boneless skinless for the sheer ease of it.]
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red or orange pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 6-8 oz processed cheese food like Velveeta or that squeezy stuff that you get in Hickory Farms gift boxes [That's what we used.  Yum!] 

Cook the bacon and set it aside to cool.

Brown the chicken and cook it through in 2 Tablespoons of the bacon grease.

In a larger soup pan, melt the remaining bacon grease and cook the onion and pepper until soft.   Add flour and combine well.  Turn up the heat  and stir in the bouillon cubes, stock and water.   As soon as it starts to boil, reduce heat and let it simmer until a bit thick.   Cut up cheese and stir until it all melts.  Add bacon crumbles. 

Delish.