As promised, here is my first recipe on the blog, ever! This is an exciting moment for me as I never envisioned myself as much of a recipe creator. My day to day meals are very simple, with little or no pre-thought to the them or a strict recipe observance. I do admit the weeks I take the time to plan ahead go much smoother than the spur of the moment meals. As much as I preach meal planning to my clients and #nouristhelittles community, I am not the best at following through myself, progress not perfection!
All that rambling to say, I am an expert at taking left over dishes, veggies, meats, etc. and piecing together a new meal. So maybe all the lack of planning has some benefits in the end…Therefore, I present you with a very simple, seasonal, humble, leftover soup. Soups are definitely a staple in my home. They are E A S Y, a wonderful way to incorporate more stocks or broths into the diet—and a way to repurpose leftovers. I challenge you to look in your fridge this week and see what you have that can be turned into a “leftover soup.” The ingredients below are the ones I had on hand for that particular week. Feel free to recreate it exactly or be adventurous and bold and use what you already have in your own fridge to come up with a different version.
I’ll be adding more content to the blog in the months to come and organizing it accordingly. For now, I would like to emphasize the beauty and importance of consuming in season produce. It challenges us in the kitchen to cook with ingredients we might not normally use and creates a natural rotation of foods that follow the flow of the seasons. Rhythm—I will mention this many more times in the future, this is what eating seasonally establishes. If you decide to make this recipe—or any version of it—please tag me on instagram and share with your friends! Use the #nourishthelittlesrecipes as I would like to start building an online database of all our recipes that we produce together as a community. Recipe below, enjoy!
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Mid-Winter Leftover Soup
- Prep Time: 35 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
Ingredients for chicken meat stock
- 4 lbs Chicken backs, necks, feet
- 4 qts Filtered water
- ¼ cup Apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
Ingredients for soup
- 4 qts Chicken meat stock
- 1 lb Shredded chicken meat from the chicken stock
- 3 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Onion, diced
- 5 Potatoes, cubed
- ½ Purple cabbage, roughly chopped
- 1 Bunch of spinach, chopped
- 12 oz Jar of cubed tomatoes (Jovial brand is best)
Instructions
Directions for chicken meat stock
1. Using a cleaver or large knife to make multiple cuts into the skin and bones of the chicken necks, backs, and feet.
2. Place chicken parts into a large stockpot. Add 1/4 cup of vinegar, then 4-5 quarts of filtered water to just barely cover the chicken bones. Let sit for 10-30 minutes.
3. Then bring the pot to a rolling boil and skim the scum that rises to the top and discard. Reduce to heat to simmer.
4. Simmer for 2-3hrs.
5. Remove the chicken carcass and let cool.
6. Strain meat stock into glass mason jars or directly back into the pot to make the soup.
7. Once the chicken carcass has cooled, pick off all the meat from the backs and necks and set aside to be used in the soup, or save for later to be used in other recipes.
Directions for soup
1. Prep the vegetables for the soup. Roughly cube the potatoes, dice the onion, chop the spinach and cabbage. Use a garlic press for the 3 cloves of garlic.
2. Add the onions, potatoes, crushed tomatoes to the meat stock and let simmer for 20-30 minutes.
3. Next add the cabbage and simmer for another 5 minutes.
4. Finally add in the spinach, shredded chicken, and pressed garlic and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Generously salt the soup to taste, enjoy!