Mom's Roasted Costco Chicken Soup

 

Mom’s Roasted Costco Chicken Soup

This is a long and fairly complicated recipe, but makes two huge meals or more.

These directions are for egg free and GLUTEN FREE chicken and rice soup, but I LOVE this soup with fat, German spaetzle dumpling/noodles.  I like Bechtle brand.

To make the soup, I first roast a Costco chicken a second time with lots of root vegetables: the leftovers go into the soup.

 

Here is a shopping list

1. Costco chicken

2 large onions

Celery (I use about 5 stalks)

Jar of chicken Better Than Bouillon 

Carrots (1-2 lb of nubbies or more)

1-2 lbs small new potatoes 

2 yams or sweet potatoes 

1 large apple

Butter

Rice or noodles

First reroast the chicken and veggies:

 

Take the elastic off the chicken 

Slice I onion:put half on bottom of big soup pan (at least 8 deep x 12” across) on top of olive oil or butter. This helps insulate the chicken and keep it from overcooking on the bottom.  Peel and core apple and put chunks of apple and onion inside the chicken.  Save the peels for the broth.

Cut potatoes and sweet potatoes in half and surround the chicken. Dump carrots on top. Put 1/2 cup hot water in Costco chicken bag to dissolve juices and gelatin in bag and pour that over chicken and veggies. 

Put lid on pan

Roast at least 3 hours at 325 degrees (or 5 hrs at 300)

When ready, carefully lift everything out of pan: chicken will practically fall apart. 

To make gravy, put onions and apples from the stuffed chicken in a blender, along with all pan juices. Add 1-2 cups hot water into pan to get drippings. Add that to blender along with 1/2 peeled cooked sweet potato Add I tbsp corn starch for each cup of gravy makings. Blend well and pour back into the pan the chicken was roasted in and cook until thickened.

Serve.

 

 Now to make the soup: 

 

Strip all the leftover meat off the roasted chicken.  Keep all the bones, skin, etc to make broth.

Next step is to put the entire carcase, skin, etc of the roasted chicken in the pot you roasted it in and made gravy in: you don't even need to wash it first.

You can add things like the tops of the celery, or potato skins or old carrots or old apples to the broth. Cover with water.

Simmer the bones, etc for at least 3 hours or more.

Using a sieve or strainer, pour the broth into a clean bowl or pot.  Throw away all the bones, skin, boiled veggie parts, etc.  I put them all in a plastic grocery bag to keep the trash neater and lessen the probability of some animal trying to get into the trash.

Chop up the 2nd onion and as much celery as you want in the soup. In the soup pan, melt 2 tbsp butter or olive oil and cook the celery and onion in the fat until it is translucent.

Next,  add the broth you made to the onion and celery and at least 1 cup of uncooked rice  (or noodles) to the broth and simmer.  When the rice (or noodles) is tender, chop up all the leftover veggies and as much chicken as you want. Add meat, veggies and leftover gravy to the soup and simmer for about 1/2 hour, adding water if needed.  Now test for flavor: if you want more flavor, add Chicken flavor Better than Bouillion one tablespoon at a time until the soup tastes good.  Add freshly ground pepper to taste.

Enjoy.

 

 

A Week of Salad

 

My brother in law made the salad in the picture for Thanksgiving a couple years ago. It was delicious and I made it once myself. It just takes too long. So I've streamlined it into something I can cook for once and then eat for lunch all week long. Here's the result:

1 bag of greens- spinach or spring mix

1 butternut squash or a couple sweet potatoes

1/2 cup dry quinoa cooked in chicken broth 

Cheese- goat, feta, parmesan

Nuts or seeds- cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, pistachios

Dressing for 1:
2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp vinegar- rice, red wine, apple cider, or balsamic

1/4-1/2 tsp mustard

1/4-1/2 tsp honey

• Peel your squash or sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2-1 inch cubes. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a generous amount of dried sage. Roast at 400* for 30-40 min tossing once.
  
  
•  Cook  1/2 C of dry quinoa in chicken broth, or in water with some chicken bouillon according to the package directions. You could also used wild or brown rice, or even buy those microwavable grain pouches.

Every day when you want to eat your salad

1) Mix together the dressing ingredients in a little bowl with a fork

2) Toss the dressing with a big handful of greens

3) Scoop out 1/5 of the quinoa and 1/5 of the squash/sweet potatoes and heat them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Put them on top of the greens

4) Add some cheese and nuts/seeds

5) Lightly salt and pepper the salad

Repeat for the rest of the week.

One Pot Cheesy Mexican Lentils, Black Beans, and Rice

Rachel found this recipe at https://reciperunner.com/one-pot-cheesy-mexican-lentils-black-beans-and-rice/ It's delicious. I could eat the whole pot by myself, it goes down so smooth, but it's enough food to feed a family of eight if six of them are kids or teenagers.

ONE POT CHEESY MEXICAN LENTILS, BLACK BEANS AND RICE
yield: 5 SERVINGS
prep time: 20 MINUTES
cook time: 50 MINUTES
total time: 1 HOUR (if you overlap some of the prep time with the cook time)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, grated or minced
1/2 cup uncooked long grain brown rice
1/2 cup uncooked French green lentils, rinsed (red or brown lentils may also be used)
2-3 cups low sodium vegetable stock
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle powder (optional)
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
15 ounces black beans (canned), rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fire roasted tomatoes, drained
4 ounces diced green chiles (canned)
1 small zucchini, shredded
1/2 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1 cup red enchilada sauce
3/4 cup shredded cheese, I used sharp cheddar and part skim mozzarella
Cilantro for garnish (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat a large pot or saucepan over medium high heat.
2. When the pot is heated spray with cooking oil and add in the onion and garlic.
3. Sauté for a couple minutes then add in the brown rice and lentils.
4. Add in the vegetable stock, stir and bring to a boil.
5. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low.
6. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until lentils and rice are tender.
7. If there is any excess liquid drain it.
8. Season the rice and lentils with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and chipotle powder.
9. Add in all of the remaining ingredients except 1/4 cup of the cheese and stir together.
10. Heat the mixture until the cheese is melted.
11. Top with the remaining cheese and cover with a lid.
12. Heat on low until the cheese is melted and the mixture is bubbly.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: YIELD: 5 SERVING SIZE: 1
Amount Per Serving: CALORIES: 498 TOTAL FAT: 14g SATURATED FAT: 8g TRANS FAT: 0g UNSATURATED FAT: 5g CHOLESTEROL: 39mg SODIUM: 1274mg CARBOHYDRATES: 65g FIBER: 18g SUGAR: 11g PROTEIN: 30g