Chicken and Garden Vegetable Soup
Serves 2 • Cooking Time 2 to 3 hours on Low • Slow Cooker Size 4 to 7 Quarts
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Creating anything garden fresh in a slow cooker is a tall order, but we beat the odds by developing a recipe for a bright, lively-tasting chicken and vegetable soup. We found that the trick was adding the vegetables in stages. Onion, garlic, and carrot went in at the start so their flavors would deepen and meld into a richly flavored broth. We stirred in yellow squash and peas at the end of cooking so that they would turn tender but not mushy and dull-tasting. For a finishing touch of bright, herbal flavor, we stirred in fresh parsley just before serving. To ensure that our soup was hearty and filling but also healthy, we chose a bone-in split chicken breast. Although breast meat is lean, the bones helped protect the meat so it retained its moisture during cooking. We simply discarded the bones after cooking, shredded the meat, and stirred it back into our soup, giving us juicy, flavorful bites of chicken to complement the soup’s fresh vegetable flavor. See the sidebar that follows the recipe.
1 |
teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil |
1 |
onion, chopped fine |
1 |
carrot, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick |
1 |
tablespoon tomato paste |
2 |
garlic cloves, minced |
1 |
teaspoon minced fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried |
2 |
cups chicken broth |
1 |
bay leaf |
Salt and pepper |
|
1 |
(12-ounce) bone-in split chicken breast, skin removed, trimmed of all visible fat |
1 |
small yellow summer squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced ¼ inch thick |
½ |
cup frozen peas, thawed |
1 |
tablespoon chopped fresh parsley |
1. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and carrot and cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup broth, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.
2. Stir remaining 1 cup broth, bay leaf, and ¼ teaspoon salt into slow cooker. Nestle chicken into slow cooker, cover, and cook until chicken is tender, 2 to 3 hours on low.
3. Transfer chicken to carving board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces using 2 forks; discard bones. Discard bay leaf. Stir summer squash into soup, cover, and cook on high until tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Stir in shredded chicken and peas and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Per serving:
Cal 260
Fat 6g
Sat Fat 1g
Chol 70mg
Carb 21g
Protein 32g
Fiber 5g
Sodium 1020mg
*To reduce sodium level to 570mg, use unsalted broth.