Thick Chicken Noodle Soup

It's been wet around here... very wet. Nothing like biking to class in the steady rain to make you want soup. I like my soups thick.. very very thick. This was wonderful, with big fettuccine noodles, fresh parsley and big chunks of chicken.

Lately, I've been bartering: Soup for homework help. So far it's worked out well.

Makes about 5 to 6 cups of thick soup.

35 minutes
-large large soup pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS

3 heaping Tbsp Earth Balance butter
1/3 c Bob's Red Mill all-purpose flour (sorghum?)
3 (15 oz) cans Swanson natural goodness chicken broth
1 can water (fill up empty chicken broth can)
1 (or two) large chicken breast
2 thick carrots, peeled
1 large white onion
handful of fresh parsley
fistful (about 1/3 to 1/2 of a package) of Tinkyada fettuccine noodles, broken in half
1/2 c. frozen peas
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. celery flakes
sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt butter in the wok over low heat. Once butter is fully melted, add in the flour, one tablespoon at a time. Stir well to mix, breaking up any flour clumps. Mixture should be thick and sticky, like a paste.
2. Continue to heat the butter/flour roux, stirring frequently. Add in a little more butter if necessary to aid stirring. When flour in the roux just starts to tan/brown (around the 5 minute mark), add in the chicken broth + 1 additional can of water. Mix well. Don't be discouraged if lumps occur at this point; they should break up later upon boiling (the end product is silky smooth).
3. Rinse off the boneless/skinless chicken breast(s). Tear into bite-sized chunks and add to the broth/roux. Turn heat up to medium high. Cover and let simmer softly while you chop up veggies.
4. Wash and peel the carrots. Slice into thin-ish circles. Half the larger circles if they get too big in diameter. Peel and chop up the onion; pieces don't have to be super small. Wash and dice the fresh parsley.
By now the soup should have boiled for around 10 minutes, cooking the chicken pieces.
5. Add in the chopped carrot, onion and parsley to the boiling soup. Take a handful of Tinkyada flat fettuchini pasta and break in half lengthwise. Add pasta to the soup pot (it will be awkard). Cover and let simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. **Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot during stirring. The soup will become very thick and might stick to the bottom and burn if left totally unattended. Add in more water to alleviate this problem.**
6. Once the pasta becomes tender, wash off the frozen peas and add them to the pot. Season soup generously with garlic powder, black pepper, oregano and celery flakes. Turn heat down to medium. Stir to mix. Add in extra water as necessary.
7. Simmer gently for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until veggies are tender (but not shapeless) and pasta and chicken are fully cooked. Soup should no longer have any large clumps, but it will be quite viscous, coating spoons and pouring slowly.
Serve warm with favorite gluten free bread.

Lentil Soup

During the previous cold spell, I finally got around to opening the small bag of lentils I bought months ago. I remember as a child this being my favorite soup. It was surreal to make this myself instead of eagerly watching my mother. Earthy, mild and thick. Beware: this recipe will easily serve 8 people, so half accordingly.



Serves 8-10
1 hour
-large large pot or dutch oven, with a lid
-peeler
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 medium red potatoes
2 celery stalks
2 large carrots, peeled
1 large white onion
2 c. lentils, washed and sorted
1/2 c. brown rice
2 tbsp. olive oil
10 c. water
1 bay leaf*

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
Parmesan cheese (for topping)
*McCormick spices are GF; all lentils should be GF-- wash them well

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut the potatoes into small cubes, about 1/4th inch on each side. Peel the carrots, slice, then chop up into small pieces. Cut up the celery and onion likewise into small pieces. Pour veggies into large pot.
2. Spoon lentils out of bag 1/4th cup at a time onto a paper towel or plate. Sort through the dry lentils with your fingers, picking out twigs, pebbles or other foreign material. Rinse shifted lentils, then place into pot with veggies. Continue to sort and rinse until needed volume of lentils is shifted/washed and placed in pot.
3. Measure out brown rice and add in with lentils/veggies. Pour olive oil over all and mix well.
4. Add 10 cups of water to pot along with a bay leaf. [New cooks: be sure to REMOVE the bay leaf before eating.. the leaf is just for flavor while cooking]
5. Heat pot over high heat until lentils come to a rolling boil. Then turn heat all the way down to medium-low and cover with a large lid.
6. Let soup simmer gently for 45 minutes. Uncover and stir well every 10 minutes or so-- the soup will quickly thicken, so make sure the lentils do not start sticking to the bottom of your pot. Turn heat down to low if the lentils begin to stick.
7. Once lentils and potatoes are tender, and the soup is a lovely shade of earthy grey-brown, remove from heat and stir in the 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar. Serve warm, generously topped with Parmesan cheese, alongside a nice slice of GF bread. This tastes even better the next day.

Chicken Sauce over Wild Rice

I bought a small bag of Lundberg's 'Wild Blend' last week and wanted something to serve over my new rice. Of course I turned to carrots and celery and chicken. I was aiming for a thick sauce/soup mixture to pour over the top and that's what I got. Not powerful enough to cover up the taste of the chewy wild rice, but still flavorful. Served below with Gluten-Free By The Bay: Lemon Roasted Cauliflower with Dill. Visit her tasty site for the zesty recipe.



Serves 3
50 minutes
-large saucepan with deep sides
-large pot with tight-filling lid
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Rice
1 c. uncooked rice: wild, but white or brown would work, too
Sauce**
3 medium carrots, peeled
2 medium celery stalks, ends removed
1/2 of a medium green bell pepper, cored
1/2 of a medium white onion
2 tbsp. olive oil -or- butter
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes (or some fresh parsley)
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 large chicken breast, cut up into bite-sized pieces
1 14 oz can Swanson natural goodness chicken broth (1 cup)
3 heaping tsp. of GF flour (I used sweet white sorghum)
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese*; used to further thicken, instead of heavy cream
*I used Galaxy Nutritional foods mozzarella rice shreds to make this lactose-free
** Could serve alone as a thick soup... only add in 2 tsp. flour and a little less cheese. Stir in half of cooked rice at end.

DIRECTIONS
Rice
1. Cook according to directions on package in large pot with a tight-fitting lid. If rice cooking time is over 30 minutes, start rice before sauteing veggies and chicken.
Sauce
1. Cut up peeled carrots into 1/4th inch slices. Half if too big in diameter. Slice, then coarsely chop, up celery. Chop up cored green bell pepper and white onion into small-ish bits. Cut up and wash chicken breast. Set chicken aside from veggies, but by the range.
2. Place veggies (no chicken, yet) in large saucepan and pour in oil. Stir until coated, then turn on heat to medium-high. Add in parsley and thyme, to taste.
3. Saute veggies for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
4. Push veggies to one side in saucepan and add in raw chicken breast, already cut. Saute chicken and veggies for another 5 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink on the outside.
5. Add in entire can of chicken broth, stirring. Cook veggies and chicken in simmering broth for another 10 minutes, until chicken is tender and fully cooked.
6. With broth still boiling, add in 3 heaping tbsp. of GF flour over veggies and stir until no longer clumpy (I found very few lumps-- a perk of no gluten?!) Sauce should be quite a bit thicker, but still just 'soup' consistency.
6. Remove saucepan from heat and quickly stir in mozzarella cheese until well melted. Now mixture should fully thicken into sauce.
7. Hopefully, by now, your rice is done cooking and is ready to be topped with chicken and vegetables. Enjoy with bread or another cooked veggie.

Beef Stew

Hearty and full of veggies; this is my mother's recipe modified to be GF. Makes alot, so invite a friend who likes beef.



Serves 8
2.5 hours
-large pot or dutch oven, with lid
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 to 2 lbs beef stew meat
1/4 to 1/2 c. flour; any kind will work.. sorghum, rice, potato...enough to coat meat
2 tbsp olive oil
15 oz can tomato sauce*
4 c. water; or more, later
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce*
5 small red potatoes; coarsely cut into 1 inch cubes
2 carrots, cut into thick round slices
2 celery stalks, cut into thick slices
1 c. fresh corn (or one 15 oz can sweet yellow corn, if out of season)*
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium turnip (use the turnip; it tastes good in this.. I promise)
2 large leeks; wash and cut into thick round slices-- only use the white bottom portion of the stalk, not the green part. Separate the O's once cut.
salt and pepper to taste
*Lea & Perrins original worcester. sauce is GF; all DelMonte canned veggies are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash stew meat and place into large, deep pot. Sprinkle flour over meat and stir in pot to coat. Also add some salt and pepper.
2. Brown meat in olive oil over medium heat until meat just starts to sizzle.
3. Add tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and 4 cups water. Increase heat to 'high' and bring to a boil.
4. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer for 2 hours. DO NOT cook longer than 2 hours... your meat will turn to mush.
5. While meat is simmering, coarsely cup up all veggies.. there will be quite a bit.
6. Add in all (potatoes, carrots, celery, corn, sweet potato, turnip, leeks) to pot at 2 hour mark. Slowly add in more water if you desire a soup-like stew. I like mine thick and rarely add more liquid.
7. Cover and let veggies simmer for 30-45 minutes. Again, do NOT overcook! When the potatoes are tender, stew is ready to eat.