It's COLD: chicken soup

Ok, this is NOT going to be soup as good as my friend Andrew makes it. Chicken soup is his specialty. So I am not gonna get into a culinary throw down with Andrew on this. But talk to me about eggplant parmagiana, or mac and cheese. Hmmmm.

But anyway, this is what I call "rescue soup," because it "rescues" me , when I don't have anything else in mind and I need to make a soup.

I always have skinless chicken breasts in the freezer, "just in case." And there are always "soup type" vegetables available. This time, there were carrots and celery. And also for a bit of a Mexican twist, some chopped canned green peppers. Yes, darlings I do use canned stuff.

If you've been following my soup making, you know I'm into easy. For my chicken soup, since the major flavor is CHICKEN, and I'm not fussing with homemade stock. So what I do is I poach my chicken breasts in chicken soup, that way the flavor in the stock is intensified a little. And while that is going on, I cook up a pot of rice. Rice seems to make such a nice compliment to chicken, especially in soup , that I always use it.

I then chopped up a bunch of baby carrots, and an equal amount of celery. I sauteed them in vegetable oil, just until they softened. While that was happening, I opened up just one can of those green chils and tossed them in. As soon as they hit the oil, the smell was amazing. I was onto something. A few minutes of sauteeing, and I left them alone, while I dealt with the chicken.

By "dealt with," all I mean is that I pulled the chicken breasts (two big halves) out of the stock, and sliced them thin and shredded where I could. Big and small pieces are fine. You don't have to be surgically precise with this rustic soup . They went in with the vegetables, and the stock, plus three more cups of water. I let that simmer for fifteen minutes.

Why didn't I add the rice right away ? Because rice will continue to absorb liquid if the liquid is hot. And that's fine if you want a thick gruel, but if you want "soup," wait until it cools, and add your rice thereafter.

This is comfort food, pure and simple. You can change the vegetables as you see fit, or add some. For example, at this time of year, I would LOVE to add chard, or chopped cabbage, or , best of all, spinach. If I added the spinach, I might add a bit of sesame oil too, but that's me being creative.

Andrew, come on out. Let's make some soup. We haven't cooked together since last thanksgiving (remember fettucine alfredo?). It's time we did it again