Easy Vegetable Soup

In my last post I mentioned making homemade vegetable soup.  I used to think this was an all day deal that I couldn’t manage and work too.  You can cut the time considerably if you use premade chicken stock or water and chicken base.  Feel free to change this recipe to include the things your family likes to eat.  I often use frozen green beans but cut them in half.  If you don’t have any tomato paste, add a small can of diced tomatoes.

Start cooking the chicken and when it looks done, add the rest of the ingredients in order.  Once you have everything in the pot you simmer it for another 10 to 15 minutes until everything is cooked.  Don’t over cook and you won’t have to worry about ’stinky cabbage’.

Garden Vegetable Soup with Chicken

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
2/3 cup Sliced Carrots
½ cup chopped onions
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups chicken broth (can be from chicken base)
½ cup green beans
½ cup diced zucchini
1 Tbs tomato paste
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
1 ½ cups diced cabbage

In a large pot, put a little stock and simmer the chicken breast a few minutes until done. (It could be done in olive oil if you prefer.) Add the ingredients in order adding the cabbage last so that it cooks the least amount of time.  As you can imagine, the vegetable amounts can vary according to how many you are feeding and what they like.

My family loves some biscuits or toast with this.  When I make it for my husband and me, we have leftovers and still freeze a container for one of those nights when you just don’t feel like cooking.  I often make family sized batches of whatever I am cooking and freeze some for later.  That way we still enjoy family favorites but don’t get tired of leftovers.  If you plan ahead, you can have a whole week of dinners in the freezer with very little extra work.

Tags: chicken, Cook, dinner, easy soup, Soups and Stews, vegetables