In the Kitchen: Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup

Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup

by Ellen Stafford

Yesterday I was in the mood for soup and I certainly wasn’t in the mood for making chicken broth. Fortunately, I had a carton of broth and a package of noodles in the cupboard as well as a few more veggies in the fridge. This recipe took me about 45 minutes from beginning to end including chopping. If you follow along in the recipe below, I’ll tell you where you can add or subtract items depending upon your mood and your tastes. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Pull all of the ingredients out of your cupboard and refrigerator before you start. That way you can look at your choices and decide what you’d like to add to the broth.

Ingredients

When making soup start with a good broth. I look for broths without sugar. It adds unnecessary calories. In my opinion, broths that have sugar in them are hiding poor ingredients. Also note: you can make this soup vegetarian by using a vegetable broth and omitting the meat ingredients—there are plenty of veggies in this soup.

1 carton (32 oz) Chicken broth

1 can, Chicken breast

1 can, White beans (I used Great Northern in this recipe, but any small white bean will do.)

1 Onion

2 Carrots (large)

2 Celery stalks (I used the centers of the celery for this soup because I like the leaves.)

1 pkg. Farfalline (little bow ties — NOTE: I used 1/2 package.)

1 jar Grilled Red Peppers

2 Tbsp, Curry Powder (I loved this soup, but 2 tablespoons makes it spicy, if you are not used to or do not like spice, then use 1 or 2 teaspoons.)

Olive or Canola oil to sauté

Optional ingredients that simply make the soup better

1 pkg. Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage

Kale (raw — I used a couple of handfuls, chopped)

Parmesan Cheese, Grated or ground for topping the soup

Fresh Chives for topping the soup

Instructions

Start by chopping the onion, celery, and carrots

In a 4 quart pot, add 1 tablespoon of oil and the onion, celery, and carrots over medium heat. You want to “sweat” the vegetables not brown them. When the onions are semi-translucent, it’s ready.

Add 2 tablespoons of curry powder for spicy soup. Stir into the vegetables and in about a minute you will smell the spice (called a “bloom”). At this point, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Add 1/2 the package of Farfalline (bow ties) and simmer for 5 minutes.

If you are using the Italian sausage, sauté in a small amount of oil until browned.

Add the chicken breast (break up the chunks), white beans, red pepper, kale, and the browned sausage now. Stir and let simmer for a couple of minutes to warm the ingredients you added.

Serve topped with parmesan cheese and chives.

It would also be good topped with a drizzle of good olive oil and topped with parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Photos, preparation and serving notes

EH (Ellen) Stafford, Managing Editor

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